Path of Peace
by NeonZangetsu
Summary: What if Naruto awakened another power in the Land of Waves? A power not seen for thousands of years? Such power will shape his very destiny and change his life for the better. However, there are those who desire this power, and its owner... NarutoxHAREM
1. The First Path

_**REVIEW! I WORKED MY ASS OFF ON THIS CHAPTER! ASSKICKING! DRAMA! ACTION! EPICNESS! YOU WILL FIND IT HERE! I'll be starting classes again soon, so i'll try to keep everything updated, but this is my final story to be published after my surgery. as I can't be using a computert too much cuz of the surgery... This is one of those what if scenario's, and don't worry, character death will be...minimal.**_

_**The First Path**_

The senbon pierced his neck.

Naruto raised his eyes up to see Sasuke standing there.

"W-Why did you protect me? I didn't ask you to save me!"

"Sh...ut up...My...body moved on its...own...I don't know...why I saved you..."

He fell down into Naruto's lap gasping lightly.

"My...brother...I swore I wouldn't die...until I killed him...

"Why the hell are you thinking about that now!"

"...I hated you." Sasuke chuckled hoarsely. "I think- A low ratle rose from his chest, joining with a silent tear upon his cheek. "You were always so loud, and so fucking stupid." He muttered, eyes wide open, everything fading from him. "Damnit...now _I _feel stupid...and tired." He shook his head, weakly, but the fog continued to press in around him, smothering everything, and everyone around him.

"I..._I can't breathe...!" _

He choked suddenly, realizing he could no longer draw in air.

"Sasuke!"

"If I die...someone still has to...to...

"You ain't gonna die." Naruto insisted swiftly. "Sasuke!"

"Promise!" Sasuke's eyes lit suddenly and he seemed to rally against the blackness. He seized Naruto by the collar and dragged his ear down to a pair of frozen lips. "You have to...kill...Itachi Uchiha for...me. You have to... and Naruto froze at the burning intensity that hurriedly. "Promise me you'll kill him."

_"WHAT!"_

Naruto reached down to clasp the trembling hand.

"You have to-

"I will, you idiot!" Naruto whirled around to holler angrily at Sasuke, and fought down the hollow enormity that swallowed his stomach. "But you can do it yourself. We're both getting out of this, you hear me? _Together."_ He stared, expecting some smug reply or a half assed retort, as was customary with the Uchiha. Instead Sasuke coughed fiftfully, and expelled a shower of blood from his lungs.

Naruto all but froze, his smile slipping away into the night as a strange and haunting tune filled the air.

"..."

"Sasuke?" Naruto blinked, dread seizing him as he noticed the every growing pull of blood beneath the Uchiha. "Oi! Sasuke!" No response came from those pale and blue lips, save for a soft and steady whistle, which had curled his visage upward into one last defiant smile. He bore no pulse and did not breathe, yet still, the rythym did carry itself upon the winds. With one last gasp at life, Uchiha Sasuke gave his last, and shuddering request.

"Please...don't die also...Na...ru...to." Sasuke died in mid-breath, a slight tremor passing through his body, his eyes still fixed on Naruto. Numbed by the sudden termination, Naruto quietly placed two fingers over the Uchiha's eyelids, and drew them shut. Knowing it would be in vain, he fought the tears and raged impotently against the bile that rose up inside his throat.

_"Oh, god."_

"You didn't actually...Oh god... That's..._uurgh!" _A cry was stuck somewhere inside him, lost in the dark emptiness in his stood woodenly not taking enough care. The corpse slid from his lap, its head smacking roughly against the concrete bridge. Sasuke's limbs were loose, graceless, lying in an uncomfortable position.

Just like any other corpse.

"SASUKE!"

Haku watched on, a little sad.

"Is this the first time you saw a friend die? He is a Shinobi who deserves respect..."

**Take my power.**

Naruto closed his eyes and winced, pain blossoming all over his body.

**_Take my power and avenge him._**

Naruto's strength suddenly skyrocketed as a flood of red chakra exploded from his stomach. The Genin stood on shaky legs, the surge of power almost too much for him to handle; nothing could hope to stand against this kind of power. Naruto grinned, feeling as though he could conquer the world. Haku stopped in mid-speech, her masked visage slowly appearing over her shoulder as she curiously regarded her once fallen opponent.

"Impossible."

A look of disbelief crossed her eyes behind the masked slits as she regarded the recovering shinobi behind her. Naruto raised his eyes to look at Haku and they had taken on a dark red hue and warped into slitted pupils. As the red chakra started to pour out of his body, the Mirrors began to crack. As he stood, that red chakra wrapped around his body, forming a strange second skin as it wrapped

_'Sasuke..._

Dark laughter exploded in the back of his head and blotted everything else out. Just as he began to wonder what the hell was so funny, Naruto realized that _he _was the one laughing. Something was terribly wrong with this mirthless amusement. He had always cared, not just for himself, but for everyone and everything. Even in his academy days, all Uzumaki Naruto had ever wanted was to belong to something, to someone.

_'He was my friend.'_

Sasuke had been Naruto's friend. Someone who knew his pain, someone who shared and understood his sorrow. But that friend had died in his arms tonight. He had been powerless to save him. If he couldn't save his friend than what could he do? The answer presented itself almost immediately. If he could not save his friend, then he _could _kill the one responsible for their untimely demise. Taking all that pent up rage and frustration, he brought all of it to bear upon their tormentor.

_Haku._

**"I'll kill you!"**

Naruto moved forward swiftly and swung at her - much, _much _faster than she had anticipated.

His uniform in tatters, Naruto flung himself at the frightened girl. Haku was retreating, her feet shuffling backwards as her eyes trained on the jinchuuriki in front of her. She knew that she could resort to her flawless form of attack and continue the fight, but her mind was inexplicably filled with fear as she looked into the hate-filled eyes of her opponent. He was too close to dodge and she had not a second to spare. All she could do was lunge forward as well, her left arm stretched out in an attempt to grab and pull herself into a nearby mirror. If she could retreat into the safety of the ice for just a moment then perhaps-

Uzumaki Naruto buzzed into view, his body blocking the kunoichi's escape route, his eyes glaring out coldly from behind the frightening cloak. With a sibilant hiss, he swung his hand backwards, a black and red _claw _rocketing out from the tip of his fingers and incinerating everything within the dark energy. Haku staggered out of the ensuing explosion with disbelief visible in her eyes as the upper right portion of her mask had been blown away and her forehead bloodied.

_'This chakra..._

Naruto leapt up from the smoke and passed the kunoichi by as he flipped his body in the air, leaving himself completely vertical as his feet pointed towards the northernmost mirror. He looked down into the stunned doe brown eyes of his opponent as he placed his hands together in a slow and deliberate manner. Instead of launching himself forward however, the blond traced a hand across its surface, leaving behind a trail of red light that flowed across the mirror's polished surface like flowing water.

It was that chakra again.

Haku was now beside herself; she couldn't understand where this chakra was coming from. It was dark and evil. It felt like it wanted to do way more to her than just harm her. She never once faced something so powerful this chakra was stronger than Zabuza-san's. This chakra was older than time itself, and she could only imagine what might happen if that boiling red mist should touch her skin.

This boy...was so powerful.

She gasped as she threw the senbon and he _deflected them with his chakra_. She then moved quickly from the mirror but he smashed them with ease. She came at him from straight and from above, only to have him back flip out of the way as she slammed into the ground. She tried to move into a mirror but was unable to when Naruto grabbed her wrist. The look she received was vicious and it was terrifying to behold in its magnificence.

"Incredible!" She held up her free hand to try and push back his chakra, only to falter as her mirrors began to splinter under the strain.

_"I...Can't hold him back!"_

It was then that she saw his fist coming. Cocked back and clenched, it snapped forward at an incredible speed. Haku had just enough time to blink, before it _slammed _into her mask. With a shattering and tearing crack, she found yielded to the incredible energies behind his fist. She was sent flying through her mirrors, only to shatter all of them as she hit the ground hard, her body going limp as a small crater formed around where she impacted.

Unconcious, she slid across the rain slicked bridge, her mask finally shattering as she skidded to a halt at Zabuza's feet.

"Haku...What?" Zabuza asked when he dispelled the fog to see Naruto on his knees, with the red chakra flaring about his body. He shrieked in pain, and seconds before the question could form within Zabuza's throat, his body became all but covered in the red chakra. Kakashi muttered an unintelligible curse and he was lost from sight in a fog of a different sort. Naruto screamed and grabbed at his face as his body wrapped itself in the chakra and was lost to the world.

His eyes widened until-

"Move!"

He swore as the first of many arrows slammed into his back. He dodged them as best he could, but given the ruined state of his arms, he could only evade so many. Only as he skidded back from the last of the barrage, did he hear the clapping.

"My my...the demon of the mist was no match for children?" the voice of Gato could be heard as he walked out of the giant mass of men, clapping his hands in a false show of approval. Naruto followed his steps with slitted eyes as he approached to where Haku lay unconscious on the ground. "I really have to thank you, I never expected that you'd take this lowlife off of my hands, Hatake." If he had been about to reply, Kakashi was about to be sorely dissapointed.

Zabuza growled.

"You son of a bitch."

Naruto felt something snap as pitched forward. No, it wasn't a snap, it was more of a twithcing, crackling sensation inside his chest as he watched the fat man smirk at the unconscious Haku. He felt the snap when that fat little fuck smacked her face with his cane and placed the cane between her legs. He felt the snapping sensation again as the red haze exploded across his vision and his eyes began to burn. He squeezed them shutt and a hand flew to his face.

_'What...is happening to me?'_

**"Wake up." **A deep and dark voice demanded**. "I won't have you die here, boy!"**

Naruto had always been short for his age. That was what happened when your diet consisted primarily of ramen and stale milk. No longer, as the boy felt his clothes rip and stretch beneath a sudden growth spurt. It lasted less than an instant, but it was painful none-the-less, and he winced beneath a strange chakra as it forced him though here were on the outside looking in, Naruto could see the changes as they occurred.

**"You hate them, don't you?" **The voiced poked and prodded at him. **"You want to kill them, don't you?"** Naruto couldn't find it in himself to answer and gasped as the brackish mist wrapped around him and his body, obscuring the bridge in a thick fog of sweat and steam. He was no longer concious of the changes taking place, but some small part of him, that tiny little part of his heart that always wanted to live, began to _disappear_.

**"Yes," **The sinister prescence pressed upon him. **"You're doing just fine."**

_'I don't care.'_

His perspective was violently turned inward, and he was forced to watch as the tragedy unfolded before his very eyes.

**"If he was your friend, then you must AVENGE HIS DEATH."**

"You bastard! What are you doing to her?" Zabuza growled at Gatou.

"I think she will make an excellent sex slave." Gato slid the cane up another half centimeter said so it would come to press right in between her legs." Zabuza…I'm going to take this little bitch from you as payment for your failure."No sooner had he spoken, than an _immense_ killing intent shot up in Zabuza until a stronger one was felt from a ways behind him. Kakashi felt, rather than saw the human shape lurch back to its feet and move forward.

**"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER!"**

Sakura stared in disbelieve at the killing intent coming off of the silhouette.

'Who is that?'

"Whomever you are, she is my ally." Zabuza scowled into the mists. "Don't interfere!"

**"ALLY?" **A disbelieving gasp rose from within the black fog**. "SHE WANTED TO FIGHT TO THE DEATH FOR YOU! SHE TRULY CARES ABOUT YOU! IF YOU'RE HER FRIEND OR FATHER OR WHAT THE FUCK EVER TO HER... THEN PROTECT HER!" **With a sudden wrench, of torn cloth, they rose to their full height, which would have been the appropriate height for a fourteen year old boy. This was unexpected therefore, as they began a slow and practiced descent from the mist.

"...Shut up...No one would-

The words left Zabuza Momochi as he saw the blade.

Silently, the silhouette had turned away from Zabuza and extended one arm toward the Executioner's Blade, fingers grasping at empty air and groping at nothingness. The hilt of the massive zanbato trembled suddenly a faint tremor running along its length, from hilt to blade. Abruptly, it came free and burst into the air, shooting into the fog and the awaiting hand that stretched listlessly toward it only moments prior. Zabuza stared in utter disbelief as he beheld the blade removing itself from the cement, though his hand had not touched it.

_'What on earth... _

With an audible pop, it smacked into a thick palm, and was thrust into the ground an instant later. Jutting out proudly against the mist, it listed heavily to the side as it was drawn. Whomever had laid claim to the blade was clearly a proficient kenjutsu user, it would seem. That is, until the fog parted to reveal that kenjutsu user to be none other than one Uzumaki Naruto.

Wordlessly, he advanced, heedless of Gatou's dismayed shout.

"W-What are you?"

Everyone flinched away as the shadows unfurled, revealing Naruto to the world. At first glance, one might not notice any significant change, but for the fact that he had closed his eyes against the rain, and the sunlight. Why, one could only wonder, would anyone close their eyes when so many enemies were right in front of them? In lieu of a reply to that silent inquiry, Naruto abruptly chose to open his eyes and greet the gasp with a terrifying gaze.

"Impossible."

Kakashi could scarce believe his eyes.

Sapphire blue had given way to a dull silver grey and ripple-like pattern around the pupils, with a light purple iris and sclera. Twin orbs of murderous grey swiveled upon the congregation, holding both friend and foe in their power. Unnatural and terrifying in their magnificence, Sakura uttered a small whimper of disbelief beneath this sight as he swiveled his eyes and saw her. Entrancing to the naked eye, she found herself staring helplessly ahead as those eyes lazily drifted across the bridge.

They found her gaze in an instant and a host of dark emotions roiled up inside him.

"You." Naruto snarled darkly, "Are a fucking _bitch_, Haruno." Red chakra leaked from the seal in his stomach, visible after having torn the zipper on his jacket and violently flung it open. Soaked with blood that was both his own and Haku's, Naruto's black undershirt felt dry and stiff as he he saw the one most responsible for his pain and scowled "When this is over, I never want to see your godamn fucking face again. Do you fucking hear me, Sakura?"

"Oh," Sakura whimpered as she fell to her knees, a bloodied hand grasping at the stone wall for support. _"Oh,"_ she repeated, as though it would somehow wake her from this horrific nightmare that refused to relinquish her mind. toddler. She could feel her eyes growing impossibly hot, like they were going to boil out of their sockets and run down her face in place of the tears that already were. She touched her clean hand to her lips, as if the small action could lessen the anguish that she was feeling in her chest.

And then another sound tore through the air, a deadly name that she was more than familiar with.

**"Rinnegan."**

Zabuza had found his voice, but all confidence and mockery had fallen away as he wheezed in sheer disbelief. Naruto shifted himself a centimeter or so to the right, his bare feet creating a series of small ripples upon the surface of the watery puddles. Incredibly, Gatou and his menflinched away from this minute movement, eyes widening in disbelief and dismay whilst the latter's twisted into slits of dignified disdain.

"I will upend you."

"That cannot— his words were interrupted at the sound of an explosion to his left. Gatou snapped his head around in time to see a wall of invisible destruction rushing toward him. He squealed and ran to the relatively safety of his minions, or so he thought. As the shadow of the massive guillotine sword swooped down upon them, he realized too late his mistake. In an eerie chorus of unearthly howls and bloodcurdling screams, Naruto dove in and out of the mist, blade in hand and stained red with blood.

"S-Stop him!" Gatou shrieked as the red demon continued the slaughter. "He's just a kid!"

Naruto burst out of the mist seconds later, dipped back and allowed the heavy blade to slide soundlessly off his shoulders, and his heel to catch the railing. Twirling, he brought the massive weapon to bear and used its heavy frame as a shield to deflect the hail of projectiles that came hurtling out of the smoke after him. Skidding to a halt, he cocked his arm backward, and, in a surprising show of strength, hurled the blade into the smoke.

"Naruto...

Sakura flinched away from the sight of him.

The wooden clogs of his sandals found the pavement, allowing him to slide a few meters in the opposite direction before he opened his hand again. With another rush of invisible pressure, and holding firm, the blade arced back into his palm. "Never again," Naruto growled darkly, his visage hidden amongst the rain. "I won't let you ruin another life ever again!" Still gripping the now bloody blade with its lengthy hilt, he rammed it into the earth as a shadow swept over him.

_?_

Grinning madly and laughing maniacally, it swept a massive axe down upon his head. But it was what occured _now_, that would forever color her perception of the ambiguous blond. With a loud and tear ing _crraack_, the blade separated itself from the weapon, arced overhead, and splashed into the sea below. Two dozen men joined it soon hadn't even bothered to deflect the weapon or their attacks, for there hadn't been a need. All of his attackers flew away from him on every side, as if they had simply been..._repelled._

"The Rinnegan." Kakashi repeated, and as Sakura turned her head, she understood. Much like everyone else, she, Tazuna-san, Kakashi-sensei, and even Zabuza, was left unaffected by the blast. Naruto stood at the center of it, his eyesabomination was crumpling beneath the unseen force, the same massive pushing sensation that _they _were experiencing. Naruo targeted only Gatou and his cohorts, who had already begun to retreat out of sheer fear.

"So that's it, huh?"

Naruto remained unperturbed, both by the scale of the destruction, and those that he had so viciously slaughtered. Glaring at Gatou, he slowly removed his hands from either pocket. A bead of sweat trickled down Kakashi's brow as the boy turned toward those who had survived the initial blast. He wasn't even fazed by the sudden exertion of chakra. In fact, he seemed almost amused and raised his hand again, summoning the strange and invisible something leapt outward from where he stood. Spreading as though it were an invisible tide, it swept over everything and nearly blasted Zetsu away altogether.

"I'll crush you, for touching my friends!" He warned, abruptly dispelling the strange force. "Now, you have until the count of three!" Kaksahi blinked as his most inexperienced student slapped both hands together in the unmistakeable seal that was known to only a handful of shinobi. How had a genin like Naruto come to know them? And the chakra behind this tehnique, it was all but inhuman!

Almost as if...

_'Those seals are..._

Intertwining his burned palms, Naruto raised his right hand, and thrust forward with the left. His fingers curling into claws as they formed an elaborate series of symbols. Right hand facing down above left, left hand facing up below right; Each hand's index and middle fingers folded, and ring and little fingers straightened. Parting them slowly, they held a small sphere of liquid moisture from within the protective cradle of his palms.

_"Suiton: Suishōha." _**(Water Shockwave)**

Gaout had only an instant to blink, his confidence wavering as Naruto thrust the swollen sphere to the bridge and created a torrential rush of water. Confined as they were with such, the water had nowhere to go but forward, and the incomplete bridge left them nowhere to go but south. Haku was forced back to wakefulness just in time to see the wave of water sweep Gatou and the rest of his men away and into the roiling see below.

Naruto was already standing at the precipice before anyone could stop him, a finger pointed into the muck.

"**SHINRA TENSEI."**

**A/N: Hehehe, dont worry Sasuke lives. Just had to give Naruto the Rinnegan thout...can anyone say harem?**


	2. That Which We Hold Dear

_**REVIEW! I WORKED MY ASS OFF ON THIS CHAPTER! ASSKICKING! DRAMA! ACTION! EPICNESS! YOU WILL FIND IT HERE! I'll be starting classes again soon, so i'll try to keep everything updated, but this is my final story to be published after my surgery. as I can't be using a computert too much cuz of the surgery... This is one of those what if scenario's, and don't worry, character death will be...minimal.**_

**_(That Which We Hold Dear) _**

From the quiet shores of Wave to the stormy peaks of Iwa, the second coming of the Rinnegan could be felt around the globe. Men, women, children and shinobi, nameless individuals hailing from times long since forgotten, all of them gave pause. Many of them dismissed it as nothing, and would continue on in blissful ignorance. Others, would stare into nothingess for what seemed like an eternity, so enraptured were they by this sudden spike of light.

And a chosen few, would _listen._ Some would smile as they tilted their heads in idle wonderment. But the majority of these individuals were not content to simply bask in afterglow of this power. These cruel and wicked fiends desired this power, and they would go to any length to make it their own. They would begin to chuckle and they would laugh, as they tasted the raw eet undercurrents of pure chakra and the boundless energy it contained.

They would begin to lay their plans and make their wicked schemes in the dark. They would look ahead to the day when their plans would come to fruition, and they would wait with unrelenting desire as they lusted after the power that now receded into the distance. Uzumaki Naruto had no way of knowing it at the time, but he'd inadvertantly spat into the eye of some very influential individual and some would not take kindly to his outlandish (if not unintended) taunt.

Indeed, every shinobi, kage, missing-nin(not to mention those who were neither this nor that) had been made aware of him. If not his identity, then they would soon know. For as the very last glimmer of chakra faded over the horizon, the wheels began to turn. And only one man was aware of this new fate that had been so violently thrust upon the bijuu container. That man exhaled softly and took one last puff from his pipe before removing the piece from his mouth.

"So Naruto _did _have the Rinnegan." The words birthed a small cloud of smoke into the air, laden with despair. They were far too loud in the confines of the spacious office. The walls and the portraits of his predecesor's pressed down on him as he turned away from the desk and the paperwork that had commanded his full and undivided attention moments before. Swiveling in his seat, it was all the great 'God of Shinobi' could do to meet the fourth portrait and not flinch away from its eternal gaze.

"Is this what you wanted for him, Minato?" The words were as bitter as the tobacco against his tongue. "Is this what Kushina sacrificed herself for?" The photograph did not reply, and Sarutobi chided himself for thinking that it might. Not even Minato could defy death. Instead, the Yondaime's face remained frozen in an easy smile and stared back at Hiruzen Sarutobi. That complacent visage looked on as Hiruzen reached into the desk drawer and withdrew a small pack.

Despite himself and the dire situation into which they had all been thrust, Sarutobi smiled as he lit the cigar. The lighter caught at the first switch, and under the silent reproach of previous Hokage, he placed the cigarette to his lips and inhaled deeply. Even though Sarutobi knew it to be folly, it truly did feel as though his predecesors were chastising him for taking a smoke. Perhaps even punishing him for his indulgement, as he began to cough and hack violently as the fumes invaded his lungs and throat.

_"Ghack!"_

How on earth did Asuma smoke these?

His eyes began to tear against the thick smoke and it wasn't long before he was forced to remove the cigar. Still battling a small and embarassing cough, Sarutobi snorted into his fist as he ground the cigarette out into a nearby ash tray. He knew he'd be nagged about it if he was caught, but smoking had always been an inescapable addiction for him. Just as Naruto's inevitable "Dattebayo!" after nearly every sentence.

For some reason Sarutobi found this to be incredibly funny, but before he could laugh and draw further attention to himself, a sharp and sudden pain exloded against his ribs. Eyes shooting wide, the cigar fell from his fingers. One hand shooting to his chest, he had to force the fingers to unclench from the claw they had made around the his heart, and wait for the agony to eventually abate in time as it always had.

It did not.

"Lord Hokage!"

_Damn._

His favorite pen clattered to the floor and rolled for nearly a meter before it was struck down by the door. Flung open by an Anbu whose name escaped him at the moment, the wooden frame collided with the wall and did not close. Sarutobi waved them man away and refused assitance as the red haze slowly, slowly began to trickle away from his vision. Accepting the proffered tissue, he loosed a sharp and rasping cough into the paper.

That episode had been a great deal morre painful than the last, as he regarded the bloody phlegm he'd retched into the tissue.

_'I really am getting old..._

Discarding it in the nearby bin, he willed his spine to straighten.

With a tired sigh, he forced himself out of the chair.

As he stood, his bones ached with a pain that warned of more than old age. Though it the light of spring and summer danced all around them, it was as though that warmth had been stolen away and in its place, they had been left with the bitter chill of winter. Painfully, he forced himself through the agony, turning his eyes downward toward the bustling populace below.

for just a brief blink, others for what would seem like an eternity. In that endless moment, some would tilt their head to one side, and still others, would listen. There was no sound to be heard, but many of them would stiffen, as though a sudden chill had passed through the air. Others would frown as the, stiffening as a sudden chill would crawl across their skin, or manifest itself in some other nameless expression of much as felt, but sensed, as the immense pillar of red chakra could be seen

"Call the council, bring everyone together."

"Sir?" The Anbu's face could not be seen behind his ceremonial mask, but his tone projected confusion. "I'm afraid I don't-

"There is no need to." Sarutobi dismissed the man with a wave of his hand. "Tell them it concerns the matter of Naruto's...heritage."

* * *

_(Currently...)_

It was no tbrought about by the death of Sasuke Uchiha. Nor was it activated by the heinous actions of Gatou. Though each of these indivuals and their actions held an especially painful significance to Uzumaki Naruto, _neither _were to blame for the abrupt awakening of his eyes. He may not have known it at the time, but his Rinnegan was not a representation of his anger like the Uchiha's Sharingan, nor did it signify an inner peace as the Hyuuga's Byakugan.

_Enough._

It had simply chosen to manifest itself in response to a dire and pressing _need._

_I will...put a stop to this._

That need, that reason, that _desire_, was what drove Uzumaki Naruto to fight. To take up Zabuza Momochi's blade. To wipe all emotion from his mind. To hurl himself against a small army. To swear that he would never let such a tragedy befall anyone around him, ever again. It was for these reasons and so many many more, that he fought. And he would continue to fight until he'd crushed every man and woman who _dared _to replace Tazuna-san's peace with Gato's tyranny.

_I will...crush them._

It was for this purpose that he curled the energy around him and heaved it forward.

**"Shinra Tensei!" **

With a violent shove of energy, the bridge imploded. At a loss for words and for chakra, Hatake Kakashi propelled himself off the nearest piece of scaffold and flew backwards in a hasty retreat just as the wooden supports decided to give way beneath his feet. Zabuza was of a like mind, having stooped down to scoop the stunned Haku into his battered arms. Too late, he detected that sharp crack and the splintering of stone and wood, just as the wide fissure spread between them and the remainder of the Konoha squad.

Whatever power he had used before, this was on a far larger scale. A wide section of the seabed had simply been blown away, and a number of Gatou's men could be seen pinned amidst the muck. It was only a matter of time before Naruto brought the waters crashing down around them again, and with an impudent flick of two fingers, he did just that.

_'So that's the Rinnegan...huh?'_

Naruto made no move to express concern for either side, despite the fact that he had placed his allies in as much danger as his enemies. Ordinarily such an outlook would have alarmed the Copycat, but these circumstances dictated that Kakashi express a bit of lenience in regards to the Shinobi Code. That, and there was simply no way to reach the boy. The harsh field that erupted from his body every few seconds was a sure-fire deterrent as Hatake watched an unfortunate mercenary detonate upon contact with the shimmering aura.

_'To think that Naruto would actually posses a bloodline of his own..._

Haku chewed at her lower lip whilst her mentor and the others marveled at the legendary Dojutsu. But it was not awe and amazement that held her enrapt with attention. Though he would have killed her without hesitation if necessary, she could not help but feel a stabbing pang of _sorrow _for him. Certainly not for Gatou. Nay, her heart cried out for the boy who rained fire and brimstone down upon the eccentric tycoon and his band of misbegotten fools.

"That boy...

She knew next to nothing about Uzumaki Naruto, and yet she continued to experience the strange squeezing sensation inside her chest. It was painful, but pain was something to which she had long since adapted and she bore with it, held witness to the swift and ruthless extermination of Gatou's once unstoppable army. Though they were not without skill themselves, these men simply could not hope to withstand such a battle and expect to survive.

As the blade swept through flesh and bone, Haku felt every stroke of its streamlined surface. Whatever zanbato and that invisible force did not claim, the red chakra was eager to devour. She shivered and shuddered at the memory of it, that dark chakra, and how easily it had destroyed her technique. There was not the slightest doubt in her mind that it was powerful. But as this thought slipped into her mind, so too, did another, clearing her mind of the poison that had been her fear.

If he had been able to summon that power at will, knowing that it would crush her defenses, than why had he not done so at the outset? Had he been restraining himself? No, the look in his eyes had not been anything but that of a desperate man. No shinobi was willing to let their comrade die solely for the sake of saving face. The pain and loss in his eyes had been all too real. Someone so young had no hope of fabricating such an excessive display of sorrow.

Meaning...

She had answered her own question.

Uzumaki Naruto was not inherently cruel.

But he had felt so..._lonely._

"_I was always alone, too."_

He hadn't been entirely bent on destruction after all, Haku realized. She recalled the milisecond before he had smashed her mask. That brief instant before the blackness. She seen the furious tears in his eyes just before he'd barreled into her. This was a black fury true, but it was also a pure and steadfast one. His power stemmed from the pain of loss, holding a comrade and witnessing their final breaths as they faded from this world.

That, was what surged from the warrior below them. This was not an inexperienced genin and not a boy who spoke with his mouth and could not back it up. This was a hardened veteran of battle, the likes of whichi batted experienced men and women aside as though they were mere fledglings. He was making fools of those who should have been able to pick him apart. So how, _how _was this even possible that Uzumaki Naruto possesed such untapped potential?

This was..._what was he?_

She beheld Naruto and the way he so callously dispatched the mercenaries. Like the oncoming tide they crashed upon him and like a rock, he did not break. As they retreated, he opened his eyes, that brief pulse of energy exuding from his form as he landed amongst the small riverboats. Though he had never learned the art of water walking, the boy stood upon the frothing waves as though he had all the experience of a trained shinobi.

An arm restrained her when she tried to edge forward.

"Haku-

"But...**!"**

Zabuza shook his head, a slow and deliberate answer, and for the first time in her life, Haku disobeyed a direct order and shrugged off her mentor's arm. Taking advantage of his disbelief, she shuffled the first small step forward. Wincing as her ankle spasmed in protest. As she neared the precipiece, she was greeted by a harsh gust and would have been catapaulted across the bridge in an instant, had not her father-figure been there to catch and steady her.

_'This Jutsu is...**!**_

They shared the same expression of disbelief as the once placid waters were whipped into a furious frenzy a second time.

**"Ushi." **Naruto began solemnly.

There was no mistaking the technique in question, as Naruto began what should have been an impossible for a genin.

"Impossible." Zabuza hissed. "Even if he has those eyes, there's no way he should be able to...

_**"Saru." **_Right hand palm down and left hand palm up onto his right hand.** "U."**Forming a gun with his right hand and sliding the left hand's pinky finger over the barrel of the gun.** "Ne."**Clasping his left hand around the first two fingers on of his right and holding the signal out in front of him. Four fingers on the left facing away and able to see the last two fingers on the right hand.** "I."** Curling the tips of his fingers to the top of his palms. Bringing both hands and touching the curled fingers to each other with wrists rotated and hands pointed toward the floor.

Even without his Sharingan, Kakashi would have recognized it at once.

_**"Tori." **_Placing the tips of his thumbs together and pointing them toward his chest. Folding them down and curl his first and third fingers on each hand. Touching the tips of his second and last fingers to one another. Forming a steeple with four fingers hanging down curled and either thumbs pointing at his chest. Gaining speed with every sign, Naruto's seal weaving eventually dissolved into a blur of tan and red, the likes of which even his Sharingan was unable to discern.

_**"Ne."** _Naruto folded and unfolded his hands and then moved onto the next symbol. **"Tora." **Clasping his hands as though to pray and interlocking two fingers straight for but a moment. **"Inu." **With a sudden burst, his hands were lost in the red chakra which swelled around him as he dreged up an insane amount of the chakra that was as large as it was malevolent._** "****Mi. Ushi. Hitsuji. Mi. I. Hitsuji. Ne. Saru. Tori- Tatsu. Tori. Ushi. Uma. Hitsuji. Tora. Mi. Ne. Saru. U. I. Tatsu. Hitsuji. Ne. Ushi. Saru. Tori. Ne. I...**_

Naruto stiffened suddenly, his lips parting for a single command as his fingers clenched around the symbol that represented a Bird seal.

_**"Tori!"**_

_Ox → Monkey → Hare → Rat → Boar → Bird → Ox → Horse → Bird → Rat → Tiger → Dog → Tiger → Snake → Ox → Ram → Snake → Boar → Ram → Rat → Yang Water → Monkey → Bird → Dragon → Bird → Ox → Horse → Ram → Tiger → Snake → Rat → Monkey → Hare → Boar → Dragon → Ram → Rat → Ox → Monkey → Bird → Yang Water → Rat → Boar → Bird. _With the afforemention seals completed, Kakashi was left to bear witness as a mighty beast rose from the waters, for its _very body_ was that of the sea itself.

A gleaming golden eye regarded Gatou and his feeble little fleet with keen intelligence. Far larger than any creature of its kind should be, a long and serpentine dragon,_ yes a dragon_, loomed over what remained of the brige and all those beneath, ready to devour everything and anything in an instant. Dimly aware of the reaction his kyuubi powered jutsu had ellicited, Naruto slowly pushed his fingers together for the final time.

_"Suiton:" _Naruto gave name to this technique with just the _slightest _flicker of satisfaction in an otherwise blank visage. _"Suiryūdan no Jutsu."_

Kakashi felt a terrible shudder stiffening in his spine. Slowly, muscles screaming from strain, he forced himself to turn toward Naruto and the massive monstrosity crafted from bijuu chakra. Naruto spared a brief glance toward his sensei, who in turn stared into the chakra cloak that housed his student. Dripping and bubbling around its host, the cloak continued to shift and roil about in the shape of the one tailed form, a constant shade of movement.

He could only imagine the sinister purpose of those chakra talons. If Naruto were to perceive him as a threat and turn on him...it would be over. Kakashi had garnered quite the illustrious reputation for being able to predict his opponents, but this coat of chakra held no pattern. Whenever Naruto moved, so too, did the chakra. Lengthening his reach, burgeoning his strength, contracting to defend any lingering vulnerability his fleshy form might leave behind...

Kakashi did not approach him. He held no fear for the jinchuuriki cloak, but it was the look in the blonde's eyes that told him to keep his distance. Not long ago, there hadn't been a doubt in Hatake's mind where the intentions of his student were concerned. Sasuke- the boy was either already dead or slowly dying- had become the catalyst for the sudden reversal of Naruto's persona. To witness death in front of your own two eyes was painful enough in-and-of itself, but to hold your friend close and watch as they passed...

In your arms...

That was a bit much to ask of any greenhorn. It was also the reason Genin fresh from the academy were always assigned D-rank and C-rank missions. To witness death, to drive your weapon into an enemy and watch the life fade from his eyes, that, was the way of the shinobi. A genin needed months and months of field experience, maybe even more than that, before they could be considered for anything remotely resembling the B-rank assignments.

Especially Naruto. Kakashi didn't particularly believe in favoritism, but some small part of him sympathized with the boy. Naruto was loud and obnoxious, brash and downright stupid even, but this, too many times had he seen death in the field, and thought himself numbed to it. Watching Naruto now, as he systematically exterminated everyone of Gatou's men, was an eye-opener. Word could not hope to reach him in this state. To have finally made a friend, only to watch them slip into the next world...

It was enough to break a grown man.

Naruto, having lost the one person who just might have been a friend to him someday, had fallen into madness. He was going to kill Gatou. He was going to kill everyone and everything that was even remotely associated with the entrepenuer, until the demon in his stomach was satisfied. Although he was not fond of such senseless slaughter, Hatake Kakashi knew that sometimes total obliteration was necessary for the greater good.

This went far beyond a simple kill order.

With a terrifying snarl that both shook both the bridge and what little resistance the men had left, the dragon threw itself into fleet. Kakashi knew the look on his face was one of disbelief, but he still risked a glance over his shoulder all the same. He was rewarded by a small snort, as Zabuza defiantly jerked his gaze away. Kakashi shook his head. Even in the thick of things, the man was still just as prideful as before.

Shrieking in fear and disbelief as the massive dragon roared over them, Gatou and his band of rogues were violently hurled into the churning waters. Naruto watched them dissapear amidst the boiling waves he had summoned, and frowned. With that calculating expression still in place, he offered an upturned palm to the sky, arm raised high. In that instant, Kakashi had a sudden epitome. He knew,_ he just fucking knew_ that the carnage wasn't going to end until his student had been sated.

He was going to hit the bridge again.

Dreading what was to come, Kakashi darted toward Sasuke and had _just _begun to shoulder the boy when the aftershock struck the bridge. Amidst an ear splitting screech that could not be mistaken for anything other than the dismayed cry of a young girl, the last of the pulleys and supports gave way overhead. A massive metal beam slammed into the bridge and everything swayed. Though he might have been able to evade such an obstruction alone, Kakashi was forced to consider Sasuke's safety and skip backwards lest it crush them both.

_"Kakashi-Sensei!"_

Naruto wasn't going to stop until the Kyuubi was satisfied by the destruction of Gatou's empire to be satisfactory.

Mininmal though the delay was, Kakashi knew at once that he'd failed. Even as he cleared the obstruction, he saw the bridge crumble away and saw Sakura. His student was too frightened to move away from the deteriorating guardrail and completely unaware of the massive . With a last and desperate surge of chakra, he flung himself forward, and heard only the sound of the bridge falling apart around him.

The sudden abscence of confused shouting likely spelled the end for Gatou and his men.

_'At least **that **turned out alright.'_

This thought did little to lessen the sickening sensation of dread that swallowed Kakashi's stomach as the rusted railing abruptly gave way. He couldn't find the words or the chakra for any sort of jutsu as Sakura pinwheeled at the edge, emerald green eyes becoming large and stricken as she fought to maintain her balance. Too late, another quake seized the bridge and dragged Sakura forward. For all his speed and ability Kakashi could already see what was to occur, and knew that he had no chance of making it to her in time.

He watched as the table-sized sheet of metal came flying free from its restraints and rammed into Sakura from behind. With her full attention on the battle, she never saw it coming. Instead, her eyes grew wide with surprise as she staggered three steps forward, clutching at her side. Kakashi experienced both relief and disbelief as one. Had she tried to turn and leap out of the way of the shrapnel; the piece of steel would have torn Sakura in half.

Instead, as the bloody piece of steel clanged acrosss the cement and plunged into the sea, she'd managed to only get a rather deep gash along her ribs. But though Sakura might have been spared the horrors of bifurication today, she was not so lucky as to escape death a second time. Although she had survived her brush with death, crimson rivulets leaked between her clenched fists, and the ground was made slick beneath her feet.

To her credit, Sakura did not so much as glance at the wound. Instead, she rounded on a speechless Tazuna and violently pushed him out of the way with both hands. Shoved him away from the edge and toward the intact portion of the bridge. The bridge builder stumbled as his foot caught on some timber and pitched forward to land in Kakashi's path.

_'No!'_

Acid coursed through Kakashi's thighs and calves as Sakura stumbled from this her selfless and toppled face first into the rain slicked floor. A loud and sickening crack spread throughout the mist as her head met the unforgiving concrete and left her stunned. Slipping into unconciousness for a moment Sakura lost her grip on the railing and crumpled to her knees in agony. Realizing at once that there wasthe ground was not a good place to be, the kunoichi was quick to bolt to her feet again. Alas, this this act of self preservation sealed her fate.

Sakura turned slowly, ever so slowly, as the weight holding the bridge down pitched in protest, the iron hooks bent back against her waist. Snagging on her hair. Sakura didn't even have the chance to scream as she was hauled over the edge and dragged down into the depths. Aghast at the sudden loss, Hatake Kakashi stumbled to an uncontrolled stop. A wordless sound of disbelief and sorrow buiT inside the blackness of his throat.

_**"Banshō Ten'in!"**_

Naruto spun around, his hand twisting into a downturned and crooked claw. He beckoned furiously, his fingers grasping at empty air. Kakashi felt a sudden pull tugging against the scaffolding, and just as he began to wonder what had happened Sakura Haruno collided with his knee. Though she was shivering and all but mute from her close scrape with death, the kunoichi looked as though she'd live to see the end of the day. Noting that, Kakashi could only shake his head upon realizing that Naruto had simply yanked Sakura out of thin air and retrieved her from her plunge into the frigid waters.

_'He can attract and repel objects at will?'_

Naruto opened a palm and Sakura landed on her butt, embarassed, but very much alive. Naruto glared at the drenched kunoichi with an expression of intense displeasure. As Sakura shied away from his frigid gaze, she quietly placed a hand to her badly shredded hair, which now ended in a ragged mop of pink just below her shoulders. Up to his ears with questions, Kakashi was left to scratch at his head in wonderment.

The Rinnegan...

This was going to be a problem. Not that he held Naruto accountable for the sudden awakening of his doujutsu, it was just...incredibly ill-timed. The Rinnegan had long since been considered a myth, a rumor, a legend, even. Possesed by the Six Path Sage who had first preached the way of Ninshu, that which became Ninjutsu. Now, the son of Minato and Kushina had inherited that terrifying doujutsu for which Kushina's clan had once been infamous.

This...was going to get ugly. Very ugly. Surprisingly, Kakashi felt a small part of himself yearn for the conflict that was to come. The chance to test himself against those that would seek Naruto's power and prove that he was indeed worthy of keeping his promise to Minato-sensei. Let them come. He wouldn't let Orochimaru or any other villain lay so much as a finger upon his students, either of them.

be after Naruto from this day onward.

_"Hatake!"_

The hoarse scream plucked Kakashi from his musings.

"Hatake!" Zabuza was bellowing furiously from the undamaged portion of the bridge. "The boy's your student, isn't he? Tell him to stop _before _he destroys the bridge!" Kakashi gave a noise of disbelief and was about to explain to the nukenin the incredible risks involved with reasoning Naruto out of his madness, when he felt the next tremor. Warily laying Sasuke down, he watched those who serve Gato be spilled back onto the bridge as Naruto's Universal Pull violently hauled them out of the water.

"There is no need." Naruto's flat and emotionless voice rang out across the bridge as he set upon them in slow but calculated earnest. "I've nearly completed my task." Even Zabuza, knowing next to nothing about the genin, frowned at the apparent lack of emotion in the lad's voice. Suddenly Kakashi's attention returned to the boy once again, and not an instant too soon. For he beheld a sick and strangely satisfying sight.

Cutting down the last of Gatou's men, Naruto lashed out into the crowd, a large hand of red chakra extending from the cloak. Growing larger by the second, it reared up above Gato and those whom still dared to guard him, covering everything in its shadow. Naruto appeared content to wait for a moment, even as his target scrambled to safety. Kakashi forced what little chakra he had left to either of his feet and braced himself for the impending impact.

"Get down!"

Too late, Naruto slammed the massive claw into the bridge, and as the smoke was violently dispelled, he had him. Hefting a thoroughly soaked man by the collar. His claws carving a deep and furious trench into the man's stomach. Dribbling blood as they reached forward to heave him upward.

"N-No! Please don't kill me!"

Zabuza arched a nonexistent eyebrow.

_'Oho? On second thought, leave him be..._

Five seconds having elapsed, the blond now held a squirming Gatou by the scruff of his neck. The stout businessman was a mere shadow of his former self, his expensive suit soaked with water and made heavy with oil. His glasses had been lost in the flood, leaving those beady slits of hideous shit brown to dart this way and that beneath the blonde's baleful glare. Once Gatou finally understood his dire , only _then _did he begin to beg and whimper for mercy.

"D-Don't kill me! I'm begging you, don't kill me!"

_"Don't kill you?" _Naruto asked aloud. He backhanded Gatou. It was almost ridiculous. Gatou practically flew from the force of the blow. He sprawled in the puddle and got up slowly, his hands and knees badly scrapped and bleeding from the impact. He made little whimpers in the fog, and Naruto paid no heed as he stalked after him, heel shooting out from the fog to catch the tycoon between the ribs and stomach.

With a wheezing squeal, Gatou was launched across the ruined bridge for a second flight.

"I have not yet decided on your fate just yet," Naruto lowered his foot and curled one hand purposefully about the elongated hilt of the Head Cleaver. "But now that you mention it, I suppose I _do _owe you some thanks for the opening of my eyes." The blade's massive weight meant nothing to him and it came free with ease, much to everyone's disbelief. Dragging it behind him, the blond stepped one pace over a corpse, before his invisible energy decided to blow them away altogether.

With all of his guards either dead or dying, Gatou skittered backward as the demonic blond trapsed after him. His tattered jacket swung open from his shoulders and blew wildly amidst the powerful gale created by Kyuubi's tainted chakra. His hair had become longer, but incredibly so, as it billowed out behind him in a ragged curtain of platinum blond. Those strange rippling eyes saw through him and laid Gatou's every sin bare for judgement.

"W-What the hell are you!"

Naruto did not answer.

Instead, he continued to drag the blade against stone, and allowed it to recreate that _horrible _screech of protest. With a slow and deliberate gait, he stalked across the sea of fallen corpses that lay between him and the sniveling buisinessman. And still, the blade grated against the gravel, leaving an eerie symphony of screams and other unnatural sounds in his wake. Those few who did not have the time or strength to clear away from him, were summarily cut down or burned to death.

It sprayed sparks onto the thick pool of gasolie and ignited the fires.

_"Katon:" _

Naruto didn't even bother to name the fire jutsu as he raised two rigid fingers and flicked them toward the approaching figure from behind. Kakashi, having set Sasuke down in order to draw nearer to his charge, threw up an arm as the wall of heat and flame snarled between the two of them. The posessed blond spared him a brief glance over the shoulder, and slowly shook his head in an warning as the Jonin stood back from the geyser of fire.

Rinnegan met Sharingan.

"Because of you, I've come to understand something, sensei."

Naruto purposefully eaned forward and away from Kakashi, to drag Gatou to his feet. For the final time. Hoisting his bulbous frame into the air. Gatou gasped and wheezed as he was dragged/lifted off the bridge and into the mist. His stubby little legs falling short as he struggled to find purchase against the concrete and buy his lungs some oxygen.

"The Shinobi world is ruled by hatred." Naruto tilted the zanbato to its tip so he could bring Gatou face to face. "Because people like him cause suffering, and thus start the chain of hatred. That is what we know as history. And from it, we learn that humans are often times incapable of opening their eyes; of understanding each other. However," Those rippling eyes tensed as Zabuza's _Kubikiri Houcho _found the pudgy fellow's throat and drew the first drop of blood.

"I was born for the very purporse of stopping this chain of hatred." Naruto began softly. "Simply put, I am the one who will bring an end to the hatred that all shinobi are fighting against. For as long as we shinobi bind ourselves to the current system, this hate will give birth to pain, and from that pain war and death and suffering will rise." His arm trembled visibly with the effort required to restrain his body, as though he would tear into Gato at any moment.

Haku was strongly inclined to believe that Naruto would carry out his silent threat. She held no love for Gatou, but unlike the Konoha shinobi, she could not bring herself to look away. For she had been stricken by his words but like the rest, she was held captive by his words.

"Even I know that hatred is spreading in the world of shinobi." Naruto had begun to shake his head. "I know I want to do something about it but unfortunately I don't know what to do yet. Love and forgiveness can't be bought just woth pretty words, I know that too, but still...I...

He grit his teeth.

_"I want peace."_

Naruto paused, his flat and blank glare narrowing as the tremors slowly subsided and the mist began to clear. Zabuza watched that massive zanbato gleam with the blood and the steam as the very first ray of sunlight stabbed through the clouds. Gatou whimpered and shied away from it, but Naruto welcomed the warmth brought by the sun. Opening his eyes, he turned away from Kakashi. Their discussion was at an end.

"If I were to kill you here and now, it would change nothing." A rimmed eye leveled upon Gatou with terrifying numbness. "It would only be for my own satisfaction. By killing you without due cause, I would be bringing more pain into this world, and giving birth to a bitter chain of events as your benefactor will doubtlessly make an attempt upon my life upon hearing of your death. Additionally, I may be bringing attention to myself for the events that have trasnpired here."

"Do you understand?"

"It is through _understanding _that my peace will be achieved, not pain." Naruto continued as the blade pushed against the man's jugular. "Today, I have seen the path that will lead to that peace. And it is not through the untold suffering of the weak and the powerless. It is through empathy, compassion, and it is through _mercy _that this peace will flourish. You have opened my eyes, and I have seen the paths that will lead to true peace."

"Wa-wa-wait! You don't have to do this!"

"Perhaps you're right." Naruto replied, his grip inexplicably slackening. "Sasuke lost his life because of your schemes, and Haku wasted hers because of you. By all that is good and holy, you should rot in the ninth circle of hell for your crimes." Here, did Naruto lower his gaze. "Still, killing you at this point wouldn't do anything to lift the burden off them, nor will I feel any better by doing it."Gatou forced a wavering smile at these words.

Was this kid actually going to let him go?

"Then...

**"But."**

The sage's next sentence crushed that seed of hope and turned its fruit to ash.

"...I have to make an example of you."

**"!"**

"Say, Zabuza-san." Naruto did not bother to turn as he continued. "How many lethal openings does the human body have again?" Haku felt her mentor visibly stiffen beside her, but he made no other outward reply other than to slowly hedge half a step to the south. Personally, she felt no such fear. If Naruto had wanted them dead, they would have been dead by now. That they were still amongst the living could only attest to his willingness to keep them alive, _to protect them._

...Seven." The nukenin replied, albeit warily.

"Can I ask one thing, then?"

...Sure."

Naruto _did _turn then, his face slowly appearing over his shoulder as he curiously regarded the once fearsome missing-nin behind him._ How was I ever afraid of them? _A look of complete and disbelief just flashed through and filled his eyes as the realization dawned upon him, and the two recovering nukenin behind him. _They're...just trying to survive. _Strengthened by the sudden resolution, he turned his back to them and levered Gatou up into the air by his throat, the knife in his hand clanging harmlessly to the floor.

Ignoring the protruding slit in his shoulder, Naruto blinked slowly.

"I see," he said, leaving his back turned as he pulled Kubikiri Houcho back out from its place in the stone. "So you still think that you can—"

"W-Wait!" Gatou began to sweat profusely as Naruto hauled him back into the air. "Calm down!" He grasped at the hand that held him and stared into the raw and terrified face that was his reflection in the bloodsoaked blade. "Listen to me! Spare me! Please spare me!" Naruto's had already closed his eyes when Gatou desperately played his last card."M-M-Money! I'll give you all my money! Do you hear me kid! All of it! Don't you want to be rich-

Too late, the sudden spike of killer intent warned Gatou of his third and final mistake.

"Like I'd give a damn about that!" Naruto's serene visage twisted into a furious snarl. "Your money means nothing!" In that instant; his blade, silently singing for death, chose to descend. Gripping the hilt tightly, he released his hold upon Gatou, and allowed the entrepeneur on final glimpse of the two handed zanbato scything down to the earth. Everyone shivered against the bloodcurdling scream given in that last instant of existence, even Zabuza and Kakashi.

At first, there wasn't any blood. Naruto might have missed altogether, with his blade wedged into the stone at Gatou's backside. But there could be no mistaking the thick spurt of red. It was a fine cut, so fine in fact, that there had been no explosion of gore. Just a red mist that showered across the boy's downturned head, staining his blond hair a fierce and wild crimson. Long and silken already as a result of the transformation, this new change left the boy even more imposing to behold.

_'He looks just like..._

Completing the arc, Naruto brought the blade back around with a sharp tug of the handle. With it, came the head of Gatou, his face forever frozen in a silent scream. Headless, Gatou's body staggered three steps back, wobbled at the edge, and pitched back into the briny depths of the sea. Naruto watched him sink into the water and inclined his head. Closing his eyes in a soft exhalation, he swept the around, celaring it off blood.

"Done." He declared solemnly. "Kakashi-sensei."

With a dull thunk, Naruto slammed the blade into the concrete. He turned his attention back to the others, gauging their reactions. Sakura refused to meet his gaze, and Kakashi appeared to be of a like mind. Zabuza regarded him warily, and Sasuke remained on the ground, dead to the world. Therefore when Haku, _Haku, _dared to take that small step toward him, Naruto was taken aback. Some base instinct caused him to grip the hilt tightly, but he made no move to dissuade her.

He just stared. Haku must have mistook his silence as something more than what it was, for she continued to make her way toward him. Naruto regarded her with increasing incedulity. What was she thinking? She was approaching the one who had been about to murder her. If he'd been so much as a centimeter off with that last punch, she would be a heap of bones at his feet. Yet still, she half-limped half walked across the dirty puddles that seperated them, until incredibly-

There.

She.

Was.

Naruto couldn't find the words to address her tears as she stared upwards at him. He could not bring himself to cry out in surprise as he staggered backward. Haku had thrown her arms around him and her tears were hot and burning against his tattered jacket. Incredulous, Naruto peered through his now red mane of hair and looked to Kakashi for some sort of answer. Unfortunately, the Jonin had none to offer his student as the wall of flames dissipated and died.

He was on the verge of tears himself, as Sasuke shakily sat up.

"O-Oi...you mean...you were only...

Zabuza just laughed, his battered body shaking with amusement. Kakashi exhaled softly and glanced about what ittle remained of the once proud bridge. Naruto's counterattack had not been without consequence, and he could see that it had been all but destroyed during his rampage. His could hear Inari and the other villagers approaching, unaware that the day had already been saved but in ex-change for their hopes and dreams.

Naruto followed his sensei's gaze and frowned as he wriggled out of Haku's grip very, very gently.

_'I can do this.'_

Hastily rubbing at his eyes, the red chakra roared back to life around was still time to correct his mistake. An idle glance at Tazuna's dismayed expression was all the answer he needed. Even with his rage abated, it obeyed his commands, stretching and rising into a pair of giant hands as they scooped down into the water. Veins pulsed and throbbed as his Rinnegan violently flared into exi-stence again and exerted his will upon the debris.

**"Banshō Ten'in!"**

Impossibly, Naruto summoned the massive blocks of cement from their final resting place upon the ocean floor. They hung motionless before him, rapt with attention and awaiting his next command. With a swift flick of the fingers, he gave it and they rocketed forth as more debris emerged from the sea. Waving his arms as though he were a grand maestro and they his musicians, Naruto flawlessly directed the countless shards and fragments to do his bidding and seek out their place amongst the stone and cinder block.

**"Shinra Tensei!"**

With a sharp but _focused _thrust of his mind, every crack and broken seam snapped back into alignment. As flawless as it had been during the construction, so too was the bridge once again. Gasping for breath, Naruto waved their concerns away, and forced himself to straighten. Glancing about, he raised his hands and rapped them together once, twice, three times, the last clap being greeted by a loud and dull _THUNK _of a groan as the support beams snapped into place.

Haku would never forget that strange feeling of awe and wonderment as she marveled at him and his work. Not over a week or a month, but in a matter of moments, Uzumaki Naruto had done what hundreds of skilled craftsmen would require _years _to accomplish. He had rebuilt the bridge in a handful of seconds. Naruto had even left it unfinished, for the sake of the Land of Wave. Accepting that his work was finally complete, he finally turned toward them.

...D-Done." He panted, visisbly exhausted by such a monumental effort. "Now...

**FOOL! **The dark voice rumbled at him. **You've exhausted your chakra!**

_...Uh?_

His eyes rolled back and he had just enough time to witness Inari's sudden cry, before the world flared white around him. Pain stabbed at his eyes and stomach, leaving him as the bijuu chakra left his body and retreated into the seal. He staggered drunkenly and swayed forward. His legs turned to rubber beneath him, and had Kakashi not been there to catch him, the boy would have surely smash-ed his head against the concrete.

"Well done, Naruto."

Exhausted as he was, the boy managed a small smile as everyone gathered around the two of them.

He had no way of knowing it, but life was about to take a turn for the intriguing. He slipped into unconciousness as the Kyuubi loudly chastised him for overusing his chakra and his thoughts ranged to the future and the past, and somewhere in-between. The last sight he saw, as his eyes began to close, was of Sasuke. Standing over him, his left eye inexplicably bleeding in unison with the other. He had a strange look in his Sharingan.

Now, Naruto knew next to nothing about the powerful doujutsu, but apparently Kyuubi knew a great deal. If his venemous hiss was anything to go by. For as Naruto looked on, Sasuke's red iris was transformed into a strange and unrecognizeable star. The Uchiha flinched and clamped a hand over the two iridescent orbs, as though seeking to hide them from view. But Naruto had seen them, and he had heard the Kyuubi's black and condemnatory oath.

**Mangekyo.**

He had just enough time to wonder what the hell a Mangekyo was, before the blackness took him.

**A/N: YES Sasuke awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan. YES Naruto looks like he's half dead but Sasuke doesn't know that. YES Naruto will still retain his core persona...somewhat. NO Sasuke is not going to go power crazy mad in this fic(at least not right away if at all) and yes, in case you havent noticed, I'm trying to keep everything in perspective and everyone in character.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**~NZ**


	3. The Second Path

**A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! I WORKED MY ASS OFF ON THIS CHAPTER! ASSKICKING! DRAMA! ACTION! FLUFF! EPICNESS! YOU WILL FIND IT HERE!_I'm so glad all of you are enjoying the effort I'm putting into this story! __Alright, since this is the third chapter, lets get down to business shall we? First, this story WILL be a bit different from the canon/manga/anime in certain aspects as expected, and I promised you'll love what I have in store for Naruto and the gang. If any of you think Naruto or anyone is being just a little OOC in this chapter(or any others) remember, Naruto DID just slaughter hundreds of mercenaries, after all. _**

**_That'd mess anyone up a little bit!_**

_**All that aside, I hope you all enjoy all the wonderful emotion and drama I've eked out in this chapter and will continue to pour out into every chapter! I've been told that this is my best work yet, and frankly that may be true. Who knows? But this ficlet is still alive and kicking after all the wonderfully rave reviews you've given me**__**. Again, I'm just so glad all of you are enjoying reading this as I am writing all of it b**__**ut enough of all this blah-blah-BLAH! **_

_**Let's get started, Dattebayo!  
**_

**_(The Second Path)_**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a wily old bastard.

He was a veteran of countless battles. Master of dozens of jutsu, and creator of many more. Sarutobi Hiruzen was a family man first, and a warrior second. In his youth and in the waning days of life that left him a mere shadow of his former self, he always was, and always would be, the Sandaime Hokage. He would always regret the mistakes he had made during his career, but two, _two _would always be there to haunt him, even when the day came that he found himself on death's door.

The first was letting Orochimaru escape. He would right that wrong one day, when the time came. And the second? The second mistake, was about to rectified for the first time in nearly two decades. It was a terrible mistake and it could still be felt to this day, sixteen years after the demon's attack. Sixteen years was too long to hold a grudge. Far too long. Then and now, Konoha hadn't understood the reasoning behind the Kyuubi's rampage, and in their failure to understand, they'd laid all their hatred and blame upon the very child that had saved their village.

That child was an undeserving Uzumaki Naruto. That child, was about to come home. It was an event for which Saruto Hiruzen had made three weeks of careful preparation. Today, on the eve of the day that Naruto was to return, two months before the Chunin Exams, it was a night of dreadful anticipation. Though he'd won full support from the council, most of the shinobi and the other adults were still stricken with the fear that Naruto _was _the Kyuubi not its jailer.

Having caught wind of the events in Wave, some feared him even more. They feared him to be a reincarnation of the very beast their Yondaime had sacrificed himself and his wife, to seal away. Sealed inside their only child. Minato had performed the jutsu himself, in the hopes that his son, _their son_, would be hailed as the hero who saved Konoha. Far from it. Sarutobi suspected Minaot's motives ran much, _much _deeper than any fatherly act of kindness to one's offspring.

Surely he'd had his reasons, but whatever they had been, they'd be moot after today. Konoha didn't respect Uzumaki Naruto. Sarutobi's decision to withold Naruto's heritage had ruined a life that had been meant for the Yondaime's son. In trying to protect him from those who would do him harm, he had given Naruto nearly sixteen years of pain and suffering. In the last year alone, he had suffered countless assasination attempts, daily beatings, abuse both physical and verbal, and trauma, the likes of which would break lesser shinobi.

Naruto wasn't a lesser shinobi.

The horrors he'd endured were gruesome. Horrific. Had Minato and Kushina been alive, the village would be filled with bodies, such were the atrocities the village had commited. As it were, they were likey turning over in their graves this very moment. Sarutobi lived with the guilt of that decision every time he looked at that orphan who lived alone and ached for attention of any kind. He was always alone, always suffering, always crying.

Konoha hadn't stunted Naruto's growth. They'd broken it. Perhaps they might have broken him, too. Naruto was loud, brash and impulsive yes, but his pranks were impossible to ignore. Those pranks in turn earned him attention and so he not only became the "demon boy" but soon thereafter he was ridiculed as the village pariah. Sarutobi could feel Itachi Uchiha's eyes burning into his back even now, even though the "traitor" was surely many miles from here.

Tomorrow, in full view of the populace, he would reveal Naruto's heritage. He had asessed every threat, deatl with every detail. Should an assasin silence him tomorrow on the podium, he had created a complex network of timed releases on the thousands upon thousands of different copies he had made. Although it would bring an anvil down on Konoha's head, Sarutobi fully intended to release all pertinent documents to Jiraiya, and if by some means that failed, then Tsunade.

Even should he die, Minato's will would be fufilled. All those documents would be released. If they were discovered and destroyed it made little difference. Surely Naruto knew now the truth of what he was. If not, then he'd doubltessly piece it together over time. Sarutobi fought the urge to laugh. Naruto was untouchable. That alone, was more than enough. He feared only for the boy's safety, but it was fear that had hurt Naruto so much that he would stand for it no longer.

Had Sarutobi been able to undo what he had done, he would have gladly traded his life for another chance. But it ended tonight. Konoha was restless because of that. ANBU patrolled the streets, and a quarrantine was in effect until the morning. The village would hate him for instigating martial law, but Sarutobi knew all too well that some of the protestors were looking for the slightest opportunity to present itself, to do away with what they could only see as an abomination.

It ended tonight.

All of that ended today, thanks to the brilliant maneuvering of the man who'd made himself known far and wide as "The God of Shinobi" just as the Rikudo Sennin. Though it had nearly cost him an arm and leg, Sarutobi Hiruzen had wrung Naruto's inheritance out of the council. The Sandaime restrained a small chuckle at the memory. Perhaps wrung wasn't the best of words. Wrested fit the bill much more nicely, as it had when he'd presented them with the ultimatum. If _they _did not admit Naruto's true legacy to the public, then he_, _Sarutobi Hiruzen, would hold an assembly with the entie village in attendance, the whole of Konoha to bear witness, as he revealed the documents and manuscripts left behind by the Yondaime.

One way or another, better or worse, this secret would be brought to light. This filthy ugly horrible truth would place shame upon this generation, but perhpas that was for the best. They had become old and slothful in their ways, to set to change. They refused to accept that their children were more open-minded, free-thinkers, and struggled to discipline them before they grew old enough to know the lies and the deceit that had been kept from them.

Sarutobi contemplated the possibility of another smoke before fate broke down his door, and decided against it. Best not to tempt fate a second time. Instead, he touched a hand to the crystal ball mounted on his desk and willed his chakra into the crystalline surface. Instantly the surface cleared and pooled, allowing him to peer through the murky waters while he searched for them. As usual, when he searched for Naruto's chakra, he saw the nukenin from Kirigakure.

Granted there _were _two missin-nin accompanying Team Seven home, but this one always appeared much more prominently than the other. She was a slight little thing, slim with brown eyes, dark hair, bright clothing, always smiling, and constantly exuding a brutally cold chakra. She was beautiful in her own way, her chakra so entangled with Naruto's that it actually _hindered _Sarutobi in finding him as it always seemed to slip out of his grasp whenever he concentrated on the boy. At most, he'd catch a glimpse of a shoulder or someone's back before the reception kicked out due to a startling lack of chakra recognition. Naruto must have gone through an incredible change, for his chakra to have become so elusive. That, or the girl was hopelessly in love with him. And if one thing hadn't changed, it was the boy's lack of insight in the matters of romance; all in all quite endearing, considering how young they were.

Laughter filtered out the windows.

"Ah. It seems he's found himself a friend." This pleasant thoguht helped Sarutobi through another stack of paperwork before he remembered something. At last report, Team Seven was still a few days out from the village. This mean that they would be back within the week. After nearly a month in the field, they would be back in the village. Fortuitous, considering that there would still be two months between now and then remaining _before _those exams began. Just enough time for the three of them to become even stronger than they already were. Just enough time to litter his desk full with new paperwork and the greasing of palms, amongst other less than admirable work.

Huzzah.

Naruto hadn't commited to any violent acts after _that _day. But he _had _set an example. This Naruto wouldn't tolerate anything even _remotely _related to injustice. Hopefully his views didn't extend toward Kakashi's precious Icha Icha. Just the thought of the squirrely jonin losing his beloved books left Sarutobi more than a little squeamish. Precious perversion aside, Naruto needed to understand that he couldn't go around saying whatever he wished; not now and certainly not anytime soon.

"Hokage-sama." He glanced up as his aide handed him another file to be signed. "The Raikage needs your approval for this document."

_Damnit._

In the past three days, he'd received periodic updates from Kakashi. The news was surprising, even for him. Naruto and Sasuke spent every waking minute training. Even while they were on the road, missives had been sent detailing the boys' ever increasing regimen of incredibly intense routines, even moreso as they neared the village. And then came the bad news. Not only would the new village of Otogakure take part in the upcoming Chunin Exams with Suna and Amegakure, but now Iwagakure, Kumogakue _and _Kirigakure, alongisde numerous smaller villages, had formally petioned to join.

Refusal meant death, even for a village like Konohagakure.

Sarutobi knew that either country would gladly interpret his refusal as an excuse to start another war. Tensions between the nations were already teetering on the brink. Now, preparations had to be made for additional sets of teams to participate in the a sense, it was nostalgic. Meaning that the best and brightest of _all _nations would be within Konoha's walls for the first time since before the war and even then their hadn't been such a prodigous gathering of shinobi.

The Chunin Exams were right around the corner and everyone wanted an excuse to fight Uchiha Sasuke. And Uzumaki Naruto. And Neji Hyuuga. AND every other genin that Konoha had to offer. Once, such a prospect would have excited Sarutobi. But he was old now, and old men had to be pragmatic sometimes. They also had to be what Naruto so blatantly called 'a stick in my ass' and Hiruzen was in complete agreement with kill-joy on this matter.

Sarutobi felt his head ache from it all. Why couldn't Kakashi hold his team back for another year; like Gai had? Now he'd be denying two of Konoha's best genin the chance to showcase their skills. Not only did that leave Konoha in a less than optimal position, but it could be seen as arrogance by other nations. Naturally, he didn't have the liberty of making the final decision, nor did Kakashi. Creating possibly the largest bullseye in the world, the council had _already _issued a formal statement declaring the participation of ALL its genin would be accepted.

This wasn't going to be pretty.

_"I've come to understand something, sensei." _Naruto's eulogy, given in Kakashi's report, came back to Sarutobi._"The Shinobi world is ruled by hatred." _Kakashi's Sharingan eye had been powerless against the combined might of the Rinnegan and the Kyuubi's chakra. That came as no surprise. There was a reason that the Sharingan and Byakugan couldn't hold a candle to those eyes, but Naruto's control over the Kyuubi's chakra left Sarutobi cold; frozen despite the warmth of spring.

The Mangekyo Sharingan had wrought havoc with the Kyuubi once before.

Sarutobi knew of Uchiha Sasuke's secret. By some twist of fate Konboha's last Uchiha now held the Mangekyo. He couldn't understand what trauma had invoked those eyes, only that it had. Sharingan and Rinnegan were as the earth was to the sky. It was impossible to seperate them from one another. So too would his students fall on opposing ends of the scale. Naruto, with his new determination to build that dream of peace. Sasuke, with his hatred and all consuming desire to restore his clan.

If Naruto could somehow control that chakra...if Sasuke ever learned the truth of Itachi...

Too many questions. Not enough answers. Naruto had _effortlessly _performed not one, but _two _high level _suiton _techniques. And in such rapid succession! Hiruzen had witnessed those jutsu firsthand in his youth, and even with the Rinnegan, for Naruto have used them so swiftly, it brought his control over the water element dreadfully close to the Niidaime. That malnourished little boy who'd been the laughing stock of the village, the epitome of a green genin during the bell test, had unlocked his potential.

Poor taijutsu stance, straightforward attacks, coupled with a complete and overall lack of ability. Quite frankly, Naruto's only trump card had been Kage Bunshin. And he was ridiculously reliant upon that jutsu. Prior to this mission, Kakashi had spoken seriously of sending him back to the academy, or better yet, mentoring him with another Jonin. Yes, he was Minato's son, but for the same reason that he was Minato's son, he wanted Naruto to hone his skills. Naruto, who not only argued with Sasuke at every turn, but held affection for a girl who wouldn't give him the time of day; was going to get himself killed and if he hadn't done so already.

Thankfully, Naruto had proved everyone wrong once again.

"He takes after you, Kushina." Sarutobi closed his eyes against a breeze, knowing that the dead would still not answer. "Frightfully, from what I've been told." Arched high, those silvery brows knotted together and came apart with a sigh. Naruto, with that vibrant hair and unbelievable temper, reminded Sarutobi of a certain kunoichi. Kami forbid such a thing. If he truly was a thing like his mother, than Naruto might have _that _ability as well.

Kushina had been kidnapped for that very chakra limit once, that bloodline that had both started and ended with her life. It might not even BE a bloodline, as unique to her as it was. But perhaps there was was chance that she had passed it on to her son. Sarutobi shivered. If Naruto had _that _bloodline in addition to the powers of the Rinnegan _and _the Kyuubi...

Naruto was going to be strong. Naruto was going to be very strong. When they returned to Konoha, he was going to start moving. He'd changed things. He would continue to change; improving and progressing just like his father had and THAT was going to earn some very unwanted attention. Sasuke wasn't going to like that. Not at all. Sarutobi knew there was little that could be done for it. He could only pray and hope that the boys' friendship tenouous though it might be; would endure this test of time.

Putting his crystal ball aside, Sarutobi took out a quill pen. Abstenmindedly began to run it up and down the paper in wide sweeping arcs. He inscribed something into the scroll, signed it with his chakra, and promptly placed it in a drawer and locked it tight. There was still one finaly dilemna that had to be dealt with before he could finally fall asleep. The matter of Naruto's sudden animosity toward one Sakura Haruno, and the girl's absolute lack of training.

Though it pained him, Sarutobi pulled out the paperwork and began to leaf through the documents. He needed to have a solution in place before tomorrow. Danzo might exploit this opportunity and try to place a member of ROOT into the vacancy he was about to create. Simply put, Sakura couldn't afford to be a part of Team Seven any longer. Naruto and Sasuke excelled when working together, but with Naruto's unsual anger toward the girl, and the Uchiha's indifference, Kakashi had already requested disbandonment of his team.

Sarutobi wasn't letting any of them off that easily. It was just like Kakashi to train one student over the other, but he'd already put forth his recommendation months ago. Now, before Hatake could try to make another such request, Hiruzen already planned to cut him off at the pass.

Technically, one might call such an activity illegal.

Hiruzen prefferred anticipation.

With a small smile, Sarutobi found the documents pertaining to the Rookie Nine. With painstaking slowness, he deliberated over them, their strengths and weaknesess, pausing only to light a lamp as the sun descended over the horizon. Papers came and went, and he signed what needed to be signed, but always, _always _he returned to the impossible task of finding a replacement for Sakura. He'd already considered the possibility of the ice-user that seemed so affectionate towards Naruto, but he didn't dare risk it.

If only they had someone to offset that terible tension. But who? He couldn't add a fourth member to Team Seven, that would be seen for what it was, favoritism. He couldn't mandate a change in the teams, not this close to the exams. Not without sound reasoning. To do so on a whim would be disastrous. Besides it wasn't as if he could simply swap one genin for another. Everyone already knew their teams and save for Naruto, there had been no complaints.

Damnation.

Though she might be a perfect fit, entering a former nukenin in these exams promised only death. He'd be excluding one genin for favor of a newcomer with a bloodline. The Sandaime was no fool, and quick was he to move on from the soon to be genin. Perhaps after these exams he'd suggest the renewal of five man squads, as opposed to four. If this blasted paperwork didn't keep him here all day and night, that is!

The pen drummed incessantly against the desk as he pondered the solution to his dilemna. No, he'd leave Asuma's team be. Those three worked well together, and their skills complimented the others without any serious drawbacks. Perhaps one of Gai's students-NO. Hiruzen slammed the lid shut on that train of thought. Hyuuga Neji would have been a fine choice, but for his belief that no one could ever change who they really were, an ideal that would surely rile Naruto and Sasuke to no end.

Rock Lee was an ill choice as well. Let Gai train him. Tenten, then? The Sandaime entertained the thought for a few moments before dismissing it as well. Able Kunoichi though she was indeed, Tenten was strictly a long range fighter. Her skill with weapons and other ranged combat might fit well with Sasuke, but it would be a stretch for Naruto, and both boys had never even met the girl. Even then, there was only a small chance that the boys would take to her as a teammate. And so, after deliberating long and languidly, Sarutobi Hiruzen found himself holding an exceptionally thin stack of papers detailing what little there was to be known of Team Kurenai.

He rejected Shino Aburame almost immediately. Naruto and Sasuke weren't exactly amiable when it came to any kind of insect. What's more, he didn't want to disrupt their formation by taking possibly one of the best trackers in the village and placing him with two hot-heads. insects. That left him with two. Saruto held up each file and inspected both, careful to discern any flaws between them and who was the more intuitive between them; Kiba Inuzuka or...

_'That's it!'_

Suddenly the answer was clear as day.

In all of Konoha, there was only one person who would be a perfect fit for those two.

Sarutobi Hiruzen worked late that evening and into the wee hours of the morning, but the smile never left his lips. When he had at last completed it, he hurriedly scrawled his seal of approval across it, and handed the paper to an ANBU for verification. After confirming the documents authenticity via chakra, the masked man snapped of a salute for the orders he was given. Sarutobi bid him to leave at once, and immediately the ANBU was gone, vanishing in a swirl of leaves.

He winced as his heart throbbed painfully yet again.

"Yondaime...I should have done this from the beginning."

It might have been a trick of the light. But had you asked him yourself, Sarutobi Hiruzen would have sworn up and down and on the grave of his wife that each portrait _smiled _for just a moment. If you had pressed him further, you might have realized something else.

For the first time in three years, Sarutob was smiling, too. **

* * *

**

_(Three days later...)_

Ino Yamanaka was staring at _the _most godamned gorgeous guy in existence and it wasn't Uchiha Sasuke. She _did _see the Uchiha walking beside him however, the strange newcomer outshone Sasuke with those crimson tresses and rippling violet eyes. He spared her a glance, smiled hesitantly, and continued on his way. Before Yamanaka Ino could think to leave her family's flower shop to pay them a visit, she noticed something.

He was staring.

The redhead arched an eyebrow as the group walked past her window, and Ino found herself raising a hand in greeting. He duplicated the motion, confusion evident there in the violet grey swirls and ripples as he passed the shop. It was then that she noticed someone; as opposed to something. Sakura was behind him hands drooped at her sides, and making every effort not to look the strange newcomer in the eyes by any means.

Following a a steady pace, albeit distant. In the instant Ino understood, the redhead rounded on Sasuke, and the two glared at one another. Words were exchanged within an intense glare between the two boys, that is, until Sakura spoke. Without warning they turned, glaring, and redhead said something to Sakura. An instant after the fact, his heel slammed _through _the street and sent a great and quaking fissure racing towards the side of Ino's house.

"An earthquake?"

With a great and rending tear of steel and of stone, an explosion of steam resounded outside. Ino _leaped _over the counter, crossing room to the door in an instant, and gawping at the damage that lay before her sight. The water tank outside her house was completely and utterly demolished. With a violent twist of ankle, the redhead extracted his leg from the street, bid the two farewell, and briskly marched around the corner and out of sight.

To her credit, Ino Yamanka had the where-with-all to wait until _after _the dust had settled.

"Oi! Chotte Matte!"

Then she gave chase. She flung herself around the corner after him and watched him take another left at the nearest street. Sprinting after the mysterious redhead proved to be unwise however, as it only earned Ino a bump on her head when she rounded the corner. She slammed into his back. He'd stopped. He turned, irritation flecking across his face as he realized someone had made him spill all of his ramen into the street, leaving the last of his noodles to fall from his chopsticks.

"I already paid for that." He glowered balefully at the blond. "Ino-san."

_"Ino-san?" _She eyed the stranger warily. "Who the hell're-gah nevermind! Did you see what you did back there!" His expression contracted into contained fury and Ino turnd sheed white in the baleful glare. Maybe pissing this guy off wasn't the wisest of ideas. Regardless, she hooked a thumb over her shoulder and jabbed incessantly at the ruptuted mound of steel and iron that lay on its axis a few blocks behind the two of them.

"What on earth is that?" He peered into the distance, but he was already losing interest. "Look, Ino-san, I'll pay for the damages, but -and here he held out the bowl of ramen- you have to treat me to another bowl after making me lose my lunch." His tone brooked no conversation in the matter and Ino flushed scarlet. "Treat me, and I'll forget this little incident ever happened, neh?" She felt a blush, the likes of which she she'd never felt before, creeping upon her cheeks.

"W-Why should I treat a stranger to something I don't even like!"

"Really?" His face pinched with frustration. "You don't recognize me either, dattebayo?"

"Eh?"

He thumbed at the three whisker marks on either cheek in answerment.

"Really, who _else _has these and says "dattebayo" and the end of every sentence?"

Ino felt her eyes tripling with every second.

"No way...Naruto? What the hell happened to you?"

"A lot, and you owe me two bowls for using that word." Naruto remained nonplussed. "You'd better pay up before you make it three-GHACK!" He rubbed at the now swelling welt on his skull and nearly dropped his bowl as a result of the sudden smack across the head.

"We're not talking about a tab!"

"Oi!" He waved both hands defensively when the latter swung at him for his edged suggestion, "I'm just a kage bunshin! Don't hit me, damnit!" Ino paused, her hand still curled back into a fist, but the blow never came. Naruto lowered his hands only when he was certain she wouldn't try to attack him. Gods, Shikamaru was right. Women really were troublesome creatures. Especially when the spilled his ramen and tried to punch his lights out!

"So...how the hell...

Naruto offered his bowl.

"Treat me to ramen; I'll tell you all about it." He hesitated briefly. "Or...well, I could treat you." Ino arched an elegant eyebrow. A pickup line? From Naruto? He really was full of surprises today wasn't he? But then Ino glowered. She really wasn't fond of Naruto. Not at all. Even if his new look DID make him a total hottie. But she was curious. The Sandaime was supposedly calling a meeting today, in regards to the very boy who'd offered to treat her to a free lunch.

_Damn but Ino was curious._

"Alright," Naruto blinked as she grabbed his hand; hauled him into Ichiraku Ramen and forced him to sit. "But this isn't a date!"

"Eh?" Naruto blinked. "I never said-

"Just start talking already!"

* * *

_(Meanwhile/Konoha Village Gate...)_

In three week's time, Uzumaki Naruto had returned to the village.

He did not arrive with a bang.

There was no mighty explosion of smoke. He did not shout and make his presence known, as only an inexperienced fool would. That being said, he made every effort to keep his head down, and avoid drawing attention to himself. He needn't have bothered. There was no trumpet to herald their arrival. No crowd to greet Team Seven upon their triumphant homecoming. No recognition or praise to be had for anyone. He waited and waited and _waited_, but nothing happened. There was only a terrible and deafening silence permeating the air, strangling all that was good and pleasant in this lifetime.

_'Why aren't they saying anything?'_

Perplexed, his first instinct was to be cautious. Three Shadow Clones had been dispersed into the village a few hours before his arrival. They hadn't reported back, even though he'd given strict orders for them to be as inconspicous as possible. Now, Naruto was beginning to think he'd gone about things the wrong way. Maybe he should have told them to burn down the village before he arrived. The thought and its cruelty were startling and Naruto had to hurry to clamp down on the cupful of darkness in his heart.

Two of the clones were still actice. The third had been popped by some weird old geezer who rode on top of a frog. Naruto mentally made a note to find this man and 'thank' him for making his return even more difficult that it needed to be.

_'No. No, that's not why I came back.'_

All the cruelty and depravity and horror he had seen in the last week had transformed him. Naruto saw the world for what it truly was now and the world was ugly. There was no excuse for any of this, _this _blatant ignorance and prejudice that permeated the air with malformed words of hatred and distrust. How had he not seen this before? His Rinnegan stripped everything bare. All the lies, all those dishonest and incredibly petty deceptions; it cast them down.

He would be a man again, later.

It felt as though he'd been living his life behind glass. That window was a wall, a barrier, a prison that walled him off from the world. He was allowed to look, but never to allowed to see, never to touch. It was a constant, a barrief that sheltered from the world and all its ugliness. Someone had ripped the window open and had let the filth through. They had torn aside the veil he'd lived with all his life and now that shroud had been peeled away.

Now he was hard, crystal-clear frozen rage.

Uchiha Sasuke must have noticed this, because a hand settled upon Naruto's shoulder. Naruto exhaled violently but made no effort to dislodge the clasping fingers against his skin. Risking a glance at his teammate, heated Sharingan bored into him, speaking volumes in that instant. _Calm down_. The strange star shaped Mangekyo seemed to say. _Calm down. Keep your head down. Keep walking. Don't say a word_. Naruto wasn't quite sure why he growled, but he did; and Sasuke's face tightened against the black and condemnatory oath.

"Don't make a scene." The avenger-to-be glanced askance at the stunned sage. "They don't regonize you, _yet." _Once, Naruto would have recoiled, violently. He would have slapped the hand aside and spouted some angry retort while he railed against being told what to do, regardless of whether it be true or false. Now he only grimaced and tried his best to remain inconspicous. Sasuke might as well have asked the ground and sky to switch places.

"I'll do what I want." His voice quaked, whiskered visage betraying nothing. Sasuke felt a cold flash of sympathy for his teammate and refused to let it show. Naruto excelled with henge, but this was no mere transformation, nor was it a genjutsu. He _wanted _to be seen. He _wanted _to be recognized. But in the interests of preventing a riot, Kakashi'd come up with a way to make Naruto so blatantly obvious, that no one would even _think _to recognize the obvious._ Damn but it worked. _A bit of makeup erased the whisker marks, add a change of clothes and voila! Sasuke wouldn't have recognized him, if he hadn't already known about those eyes.

Now it was impossible _not _to take notice, because Naruto didn't look a thing like Naruto at all. Naruto wasn't wearing a single scrap of orange. No longer was he the snot-nosed and overly enthusiastic genin he'd been but a month before. Not anymore. He ravished the streets with a smoldering glare, before finally bringing himself under control. Kakashi mentally applauded the former blond. Normally it took Naruto several hours to come down from one of his infamous sulks.

He was handling himself rather well, consdiering that he'd just sent a five shadow clones to scout the village. And by the look he was wearing, most of them had already dispersed and brought their collective memories and experiences back to him. Again, Naruto didn't fly off the handle, though rage roared high in his eyes for the second time. He controlled himself. Considering that he'd brought two nukenin back to the village with them.

Kakashi knew without asking that most of the village had at least _heard _of the infamous duo, judging by those fearful glances that fell upon the pair and the hurried gait everyone assumed as they saw the infamous demon of the mist and his companion. Naruto seemed to have calmed to a manageable level now, and as such, Kakashi decided to risk leaving the three of them to their business while he attended to their debriefing.

Still, it stung to be reminded of their skittish behavior.

"Well then," Naruto turned halfway toward his Kakashi as the jonin pocketed that evil orange book "I'll be taking these two for debriefing." He smiled that closed eye smile of his and raised a hand in farewell, and just before Naruto could murmur a goodbye of his own, Haku stepped forward, breaking the moment. Naruto turned, aware of the sudden break in formation, confusion sweeping anger away in a sweeping tide of complexity.

"Naruto-san?"

At once, his stormy expression dissolved.

"Hmm?" He glanced over his shoulder. "What is it-

She closed the distance between them in an instant and leaned forward on the tips of her toes. Zabuza arched a nonexistent eyebrow. Kakashi whistled behind his mask. Sasuke smiled and Sakura, well Sakura just gawped at what happened next. Naruto was still in the process of giving a a goodbye of his own when she kissed him. Rinnegan eyes flew wide as a pair of soft lips pressed against his cheek and arms encircled his neck for the briefest of moments.

And then Zabuza coughed.

"Ah!" Haku jumped upright. "Um...well...I'll see you soon, N-Naruto-san!"

Naruto blinked as she hurried after them.

"S-Sure." He waved and watched her go, unable to say anything more as she continued to glance over her shoulder toward him. Eventually the crow swallowed them up and they were lost from sight but still, Naruto continued to stare. He blinked. Touched a hand to his cheek. Looked at the hand, back to his cheek. Back to the hand.

Blinked again.

Naruto flushed dark crimson and mumbled something akin to a 'what the hell?' as stared after them. A bit longer than he should have. By the time he turned to face him , Sasuke was smirking. Naruto glowered at the Uchiha for a moment, waiting for the inevitable taunt that was sure to come in some form or another. When it never he came, he resigned himself to follow the Uchiha into the village.

Forutnately -or unfortunately- they did not recognize Naruto. Judging by those small nods and respectul smiles alone, they'd no way of knowing that this was their "demon brat" which caused so much vexation for the lot of them. Sasuke smiled silently at their ignorance and continued onward to his destination, Naruto hard on his heels and all but matching him step for step. He spared an idle glance at the blond, and was surprised by the expression lingering there.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Nani?" Naruto smiled and spared a glance at himself. He was walking on air, and he might as well be, with that sudden swagger in his step. Sasuke scowled, jealous. Was a kiss really so uplifting that it could improve even Naruto's mood? Nah. Naruto was probably just being Naruto, as usual. Still it nagged at Sasuke, refusing to allow him any reign over his strand and wayward thoughts. Most of the women here were ridicously annoying fangirls that he wouldn't even breathe with, let alone consider reviving his clan.

And of course there was the problem that he had absolutely zero interest in any of them. That of course, led to the rumors that he was gay _-The hell I am- _And Uchiha Sasuke knew for a fact that this was not the case, and his problem was much, much worse. But let those idiots think he was bent. Let them play with their nasty little fantasies and never now the truth. He spared a glance at Naruto and froze as the blond gave a goofy grin, obliterating all of his dark broodings.

_'Damnit Naruto...damnit!'_

"Why so serious, Sasuke?" Naruto grinned. "It's nothing, really."

"Sure...

"Like I said it's nothing." Naruto shook his head and in that moment Sasuke was _finally _able to take in the boy's outfit. "Nothing at all."

Naruto wore heavy slacks made of a dark reddish material, with a matching jacket. Both pieces were reversible, the lining being a neutral silver. He favored scrolls, one worn at his elbow and two more at his wrists and still another beneath the armored knees. Hinata saw through the chakra weaving and reinforced quilted padding. Steel was laced atop the fabric, ending in thin plating along either arm; each link seamlessly overlaping one another.

Under the jacket he wore a black t-shirt, the signature red swirl of his clan very much present upon the front and back; and a shuriken holster strapped to each thigh. A weapons pouch was attached to his belt on each hip as well. That was where the similarities ended, with the leather tether bound to his back via a metal clasp. That thick cord of tanned hide held, that thin bracer that negated the weight and distributed it across his shoulders, cradling a massive sheathe and an even larger sword.

Last, but certainly not least, the Konoha hitiate was tied tight around his forehead, its black mesh material in sharp contrast to the crimson tresses of his hair. Ah, his hair. Naruto had woken well enough from his fainting speel days ago, but upon doing so he'd been greeted with a most unpleasant surprise. Not only did he have new eyes, but he was now a redhead. Initially, he'd slashed his hair back into his old style, at least he'd tried. Tried and failed miserably as his hair proved to be unnaturally thick. Meaning, that for every inch he sheared off in the hopes that it wouldn't grow back...

It grew back longer.

Thusly, Uzumaki Naruto found himself a redhead. These crimson tresses grew back longer every time he cut them. By the time he'd realized this truth, what had once been a mop of matted crimson and red was now a lovely curtain of crimson(after Haku and Tsunamie had painstakingly forced the boy to wash his hair) Sasuke spared him a glance, noting how it dangled only a few inches past his knees and above the ground, leaving more than a few females gawping; eyes wide and faces plastered green with envy.

Of course, _then _they saw the sword strapped to Naruto's back and envy faded into fear. Sasuke couldn't blame them. He didn't want to be on the business end of Naruto's sword either, _especially _now that he'd been trained to wield it with devastating effect. The damn thing nearly split Tazuna's bridge in half during the battle. Should he ever challenge with Naruto, Sasuke mentally reminded himself to acquire a sword of equal or greater calibre, lest that huge cleaver rend him in halves.

"Still...

Kubikiri Houchou clinked softly as Team Seven entered the streets. Sasuke exhaled softly at their pace and took additonal notice of the attention Naruto was receiving. He scowled. Konoha might think to accept Haku and Zabuza with the knowledge that although they were dangerous; they could be contained. But as Naruto continued to make every effort to remain unnoticeable, it soom became all too apparent that no one recognize this strange newcomer who bore a Konoha hitiate. And as such, Naruto unwilling drew more attention to himself. Annoyance radiated from the former in waves, in turn heaping more attention upon him.

"If they keep staring at me like this," Naruto made a deliberate show of curling a hand around the blade's handle. "I'm going to cut someone."

Sasuke snorted.

"What, is that a challenge?"

"Maybe it is." A spark trickled through Naruto's gaze. "Maybe it isn't."

Sasuke twitched.

"Are you saying you can take down more enemies than me?"

Naruto clamped a hand down around the blade in the exact instant that Sasuke reached for a kunai.

"I'm not saying anything, Sasuke."

"Oh, I think you are-

"Sasuke-kun, I don't think we should-" Sakura had been saying something, but Naruto caught only the tail end of their conversation. The Uchiha didn't even look at her; he just raised his palm toward Sakura and stared at Naruto, unblinking. Inexplicably, she stiffened and became still, as though she'd seen the intense expression etched into his features in that moment lapse of control. Sensing the killer intent emanating from her crush, she turned aside, words withering in an ashen throat.

"Sakura, why don't you just go home." Sasuke's tone warned; making it all to clear that this was not a question. "We're done for the day." He hadn't been facing Sakura during the conversation. Now he did. She froze as his Mangekyo Sharingan flared tempestously, those twin stars warning what might happen should she extend their arguement...indefinitely. The brief flicker of Sharingan lasted for all of an instant and nothing more; but the message had been conveyed.

Stay out of it.

"Maybe you're right-

**"Oi, Sakura."**

Whatever the pinkette had been about to say shattered under the weight of Naruto's words.

"If you have enough time to flirt then you should _train." _Naruto fixed Sakura with a hard glare. "Right now, you're weaker than the both of us." Sasuke _felt _the acid in those words. He watched Sakura's smile collapse into a jumble of disbelief and confusion. He watched something break inside, and felt a sudden stab of pity for Sakura. It didn't last anywhere near as long as it should've. In that moment Sakura looked as though she might break down and cry.

"Naruto...

_"What?" _Naruto growled, annoyed. "I just said you should train, damnit. Don't start bawling." Hunching his shoulders in irritation, he scuffed a sandal against the gravel. Harder than necessary, a flicker of chakra enhancing the motion. Sasuke winced as a crack appeared in the street, spreading toward a nearby water tank. Seconds later it exploded, spraying scalding steam wildly into the air as those who had been standing nearby yelped and dove for cover.

"If you're a shinobi, be a strong one, damnit!" Naruto barked, silencing whatever she'd said. "Don't waste the life I spared back in Wave, understand!"

If Naruto was aware of his actions, he did very little to show it. He glared at Sakura as the steam covered them, dampening his crimson hair and plastering it to his face. Sasuke saw the murderous eye lurking there and recognized the expression. There it was again. That white-hot flash of raw anger that surfaced whenever Sakura said something out of line, which was quite often. Naruto, enamored with Sakura only weeks before, had suddenly frozen whenever she drew near.

Sasuke watched his pupils flash slitted, his features tightening into resurging rage at this unexpected opportunity.

_'Naruto, just what the hell are you..._

"Gods, you piss me off." Naruto swore and shook his head. "Ja ne, Sasuke. We'll do this thing later." He popped off a mock salute to the Uchiha, scowled at Sakura, and left his teammate behind in the dust as he set off at a brisk walk. Leaving them to stare at his back as swerved around a corner and was lost from sight. Sakura remained mute, lips working soundlessly, small sobs wracking upon her slender frame as she hiccuped in disbelief and sorrow.

Sasuke holstered the kunai and shoved his hand in a pocket. He didn't leave. He stood there, stiff as a statue, a myriad of different emotions flickering across charcoal black eyes. One hand closed into a fist, and another, swept back the raven locks of hair from his face. Only then, did he turn toward Sakura. He exhaled, dispelling all the aggravation and tension from his body. His hand settling on the Haruno's shoulder for the briefest of moment and squeezing lightly.

"He has a point, Sakura."

Sakura scrubbed at the her face with the back of a hand.

"Sasuke-kun...

"Make yourself stronger, Sakura." Sasuke patted her once more. "We need someone strong to watch our backs." Without another word he released Sakura, and continued down the streets, hands in his pockets and all but lost to the world. Sakura felt as though she were staring at their backs and watching Naruto and Sasuke distance themselves further and further from the world. From her. From the hindrance that always slowed them, always got in their way and ruined the mission.

"Sasuke-kun...

She would have said more, if a shadow hadn't fallen over her.

**"You..!  


* * *

**

_(Meanwhile)_

Something was terribly wrong.

Naruto knew this the moment he rounded the corner and ran smack dab into an ANBU. He scowled and immediately moved to pass the masked man, and was blocked. Frowned. Attempting to circle in the opposite direction, Naruto was likewase barred yet again. The man said nothing, staring straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge the redhead only a few inches below him. Naruto felt a cold trickle of anger in the back of his neck and suddenly his eyes flashed.

"Can I help you?" He inquired, straining to remain civil. "Or are you trying to pick a fight with me?"

"Neither, Uzumaki-sama."

"Then move."

"I cannot."

Naruto focused all of his chakra into one limb, and raised a knee into the man's gut; smashing him in the solar plexus.

"How about...now?"

Imagine his surprise when the ANBU uncermoniously dropped not to his hands, but to a knee. Naruto leapt back, purely out of habit than anything remotely resembling fear. The ANBU remained on his knees, head brought low, staring at the gravel as though it were the most fascinating thing in the world. Naruto found himself reaching for his blade by the time the man managed to recover his voice to a degree in which a thin and reedy voice filtered through the mask.

"Lord Hokage requests your prescence, Namikaze-sama."

_'Namikaze- sama?'_ Naruto blinked. _'Who in the hell?'_

"Erm...I think you have me confused with someone else."

"You are...Naruto-sama, are you not?"

"Yeah," Naruto frowned, puzzled. "Uzumaki Naruto. I don't know anyone named...Namikaze. And what the heck is with the sama suffix all of a suddden, oi?" He scowled when the ANBU straightened and locked his wrist in a massive hand. Any attempts to struggle were rendered useless in that iron vice. Though he could have easily ripped the man's arm off, Naruto refrained. The man was an ally after all, there was no need to attack him.

"Well?"

"Please, I know only what I was told. And I was told to escort you to the Sandaime."

Naruto felt a flash of pity for the man.

"I cannot fail in my mission." Ever.

"Oi."

Something wasn't right.

Naruto knew this as he entered the Hokage's office. He'd literally rounded the corner when a hand had clamped down around his mouth. Of course he hadn't reacted very fondly to such a maneuver, but after learning from his escort that he was about to be given a very important 'mission' he relented to his escort, here he was, standing before a very amused Sarutobi Hiruzen. The plot thickened when a bedraggled Uchiha Sasuke entered just seconds after the fact, led by a none too pleased ANBU who looked as though he'd suffered heavy burns during his 'escort' job.

Naruto creaked an eye open slightly.

"You too, huh?"

Sasuke grunted.

"Looks like it."

They weren't alone.

"EH?"

Kakashi-sensei was here, too.

"Good to have you home." Hiruzen raised a hand in greeting. "Naruto-kun. Sasuke-kun."

"Urusei, old man."

Naruto turned aside, his eyes snapping shut in annoyance.

"Open them." Sarutobi smiled pleasantly toward Naruto, who in turn, glared bloody daggers at everyone. But when Naruto opened his eyes, The Sandaime choked aloud in surprise. It'd been one thing to know that the boy had the Rinnegan. _Seeing _the legendary doujutsu firsthand, was another matter. Rimmed with violet and sprials, those eyes were all the world needed to see and more, and they left Sarutobi Hiruzen feeling hollow and cold as Naruto stared into the depths of his soul.

"So _this _is the Rinnegan."

And then they were gone, as Naruto clamped a hand over his eyes.

"Gramps?" Naruto's voice cracked in a rare moment of vulnerability. "I didn't mean to-

"Tell me how you feel."

Naruto flinched, taken aback, hurt by the curtness of the command, but obeyed. He cocked his head aside, stared at his hands for a moment, and focused his eyes. A dull tremor ran through foundation and floor as _chakra _rose out of him, gradually ascending from the faint tremor to a quaking rumble. Sarutobi felt his teeth vibrating from the sheer intensity of the chakra. Sasuke wore a small half smile, as though he'd been expecting such a thing all along, if not sooner from his fellow genin.

His eyes slid shut for a moment, and then they burst open violenly, exposing the Mangekyo Sharingan. Naruto frowned, but he wasn't looking in Sasuke's direction, though his gaze did stray there for a brief moment. "I…feel…great…I…can…feel…everything… He turned toward the door, as though listening, intently as he closed the Rinnegan once more. "I could tell you what's happening in the market, I can hear Asuma-Sensei and Kurenai-sensei as if they were-

"AHEM!" Sarutobi interrupted with an overly harsh cough. "Well, yes. Very good then.

"Huh." Naruto cocked an ear. "Someone's headed this way."

"Good to hear." Sarutobi smiled pleasantly. "Both of you,there's someone I would like you to meet."

"Huh?" The redhead frowned and tilted his head. "What do you-

"What does that mean?" Sasuke cut to the heart of the matter before the former blond could. "

Kakashi saw where this was going and swiftly sought to intervene.

"Sandaime-sama, I don't really think now is-

That had been the wrong thing to say, and he knew it at once as Sarutobi smiled that wisful smile.

There was no point in delaying the inevitbable.

"I thought it would be best to take up your suggestion." Kakashi forced down another wave of anxious nausea as Sarutobi cut him off at the pass. "You wanted to replace Sakura Haruno with another genin, I take it? Well, I've done just that." Kakashi found the idea obscenely reckless and frustration flared behind his mask, twisting that once passive face into a pained grimace. Now,of all times, the Hokage wanted to take _his _advice? He scowled as he contemplated the motive. Well, this wasn't as bad as he'd thought. It was much, _much __worse! _What on earth was Sarutobi Hiruzen thinking! And with the Chunin Exams less than a week away no less!

"H-Hokage-sama, I _really _don't think this is necessary."

Sarutobi chuckled.

"Lets leave it up to the boys then, Kakashi."

Kakashi groaned and fought the urge to voice his opinion. Yes, he'd been meaning to quietly disband Team Seven and have Sakura assigned to a medical shinobi. But that would have been after these exams had ended, and hopefully, after one of them was a Chunin. One look at Naruto, and another at Sasuke, and he hadn't the heart to follow through on his decision. At that very instant, someone knocked on the door and everyone turned towards the sound.

"Leave what up to us? Sasuke frowned, rubbing at a sore wrist. "We're missing something here."

"We're leaving the matter of your new teammate up to you."

They froze.

"Caught your attention, have I?" Sarutobi winked. "In case Kakashi hasn't properly informed you of the circumstances then." Apparently not, as the boys leveled a baleful glare upon their sensei. They received a weak chuckle and a scratch of the head for their efforts. Dreading what he might find in those eyes Kakashi accepted the scroll when it dropped into his palm. He unfurled it, gawped, and immediately had it burned an instant later. Before Naruto and Sasuke could inquire as to what had had been behind the paper, Kakashi pressed one finger to his mask and shushed them. Annoyed, both boys obeyed, but it was apparent they weren't pleased by the sudden and unecesary silencing. T

"So...Naruto-kun?" Sarutobi turned an expectant gaze upon them both. "Sasuke-kun? What do you think?"

The two exchanged a glance.

"Who'll be replacing Sakura, exactly?" Naruto frowned heavily. "I'm all for it, but-

"Why, I'm so glad you asked." Sarutobi smiled pleasantly, his gaze sliding to the door."You man come in now." Naruto blinked, and Sasuke frowned aloud, as a small squeak answered. Who on earth squeaked like that? Then there was the sound of footsteps, which did little to calm their nerves. Hiruzen smiled and beckoned toward the door, even as it opened half a crack. Someone was behind the door and Naruto was itching to know who their supposedly new teammate might be, as was Sasuke. Both boys were in the process of turning but they never heard the final now. Charcoal and violet widened in disbelief as they saw their new teammate.

She turned toward them.

Naruto took in large, clear eyes, perfectly coifed hair, clear skin, full lips narrow waist, and lean, firm curves. Well that was what he could see, considering that she was wearing a heavy jacket. But this jacket was usually zipped up, not tied tight around her waist, and a figure he hadn't see before. Rinnegan met Byakugan in that instant and BOTH of them gave a small cry, one of confusion, another of pure and sheer exultation.

"Aha!" Naruto beamed. "Hinata!"

Suddenly squeamish, Hinata gulped and the realization cut into her like a kunai.

Perhaps Hinata Hyuuga understood what the Rinnegan was, perhaps not. Regardless, the infamous doujutsu was about to make itself known to the world and Hinata would serve as but one of many avatars; heralding the change it would bring. She knew this odd chakra, true, but Hinata felt the strangest sensation of joy and fear all the same. She watched the half smile pull at his lips and then he was turning, the dark chakra receding from view as he fully faced the equally startled Hyuuga.

Aways behind him, she could see Uchiha Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei. Behind them, Hokage-sama. The elder wore a pinched expression, as though he had sucked on a sour lemon and it pained him to inhale as he had now. Her jaw tightened and she felt unaccountably angry, almost… fierce. She found herself gritting her teeth and curling her hands into fists as she forced herself to be still and wait as the group struggled through their mixed emotions.

"Ah, Hinata." Sarutobi frowned, dissapointed. "I wasn't expecting you."

Violet flashed crimson for a moment and Naruto glared balefully at the Hokage.

"Hinata. _Hinata's _going to be our teammate." His words brooked no conversation or arguement, and she felt a brief surge of ecstasy in her veins. It was terribly short, as was her pity for Haruno-san, but relief overwhelmed guilt as Naruto rounded on Sarutobi, piercing him with his gaze. There was no peace in his face now, as he reached for a strand of red hair and drew it aside from his eyes in a deliberate show of vexation. Everything stopped when Hinata saw his eyes. Truly saw them, and the startling lack of sapphire within. Piercing and blinding in intensity, these strange and rippling orbs with their circular irises drilled into Hinata and held her transfixed.

"Naruto," Hiruzen was frowning at the redhead. "She isn't-

_"She is." _Naruto's voice crackled. "I don't have a problem with her being on our team." He glanced over his shoulder toward Sasuke. "Oi, Sasuke! You don't have a problem with Hinata swapping in for Sakura, huh?" The Uchiha paused for a moment, seemed to consider the "emo-bastard" comment, and offered his shoulders in a mute shrug of affirmation. Naruto rounded on Kakashi, who looked as though he was equally, if not more surprised by the Sandaime's little scheme.

"Sensei?" Naruto gazed up at Hatake pleadingly. "That's alright, right?"

"Well, if you're that insistent...

Hinata had already turned away from the smiling Hokage, frozen and melted simultaneously by the sight. He was looking. At her. Staring straight at her as no one else ever had. There was not a scrap of scorn or derision to be found within this open stare.

He smiled at Hinata. It was a strange smile. Charismatic, but hesitant. Hinata pushed her fingers together and blushed. Those eyes. There was something wonderfuly terrible behind those eyes. Their owner was restraining a massive surge of chakra, yet his visage was smooth; kind as he dettached himself from his escort and made his way toward her. Hinata became painfully aware of his sandals scuffing against the upturned gravel; the sound was louder than thunder.

Strange.

Hinata was still trying to process the roiling tide of emotions in her gut and as such didn't take notice of the significant exchange.

_'Naruto-kun?'_

Hinata might have been many things, but she wasn't blind. Such a sight would strip most shinobi of their sanity and ellicit a torrent of conflicting emotions ending in horrific grief and suicide, but Hinata wasn't most shinobi. The name Uzumaki Naruto ran through her head like a clairon call. How could Uzumaki Naruto possibly be this boy? At this very moment he should be miles away, still on a mission not standing right in front of her. As such, Hinata couldn't bring herself to believe that this charming redhead was just that; her Uzumaki Naruto.

She blinked four times in an effort to dry her tears.

_'What was...that?'_

Baffled, she allowed her gaze to fall upon him, he who blinked in surprise as her gaze locked upon him. She hadn't even bothered to wonder as what he was wearing. Now, she couldn't help a cursory glance toward him as he was staring at her so intently.

"It's...Hinata...right?" He inquired politely.

Hinata could only think of one boy who had that much chakra. She couldn't fathom it. This strange change of appearance. What had happened to make him look the way he did now? Clearly it must've shone through her face because he arched an eyebrow in silent confusion. And then he was turning, coming toward her, recognition filtering through his features. Rinnegan drilled into Byakugan and Hinata felt her heart falling to pieces all over again. He had yet to speak but his face remained contracted ever-so-slightly in recognition, leaving his brow furrowed. A curtain of crimson hair showered his face, and he peered through it in burning contrast to his once flat and expressionless gaze.

"H-Hai." She somehow managed to force the words out. "W-We've met before."

"Yeah, I know." He beamed inexplicably. "Look sorry to spring this on you but you _do _want to be on our team, right?" Hinata blinked, pearly orbs widening ever-so- slightly as the redhead continued on at a more leisurely ramble. No one interrupted him, indifferent or simply uncaring of the stares and confused murmurs that followed after them. Likewise, the Uchiha jerked his gaze aside when Hinata glanced over her shoulder and tried to recall if she ever even spoken with the avenger-to-be.

"T-Teammate?"

It suddenly occurred to her that she'd barely spoken two words to the boy. Furthermore, Naruto was looking at her with a look of such intense excitement, that she just couldn't bear to refuse what he might say, no matter how ludicrous it might be. She glanced around the room. Sasuke was deliberately painting his face with indifference. Kakashi offered a wan smile as she looked to him for aid, but there was no malice in the man's stare, either.

Sarutobi looked resigned, albeit dissapointed by Naruto's vehemence. But Hinata saw a twinkle in the man's eye, a gleam that suggested there was more to tha mourful expression than meets the eye though she didn't have time to realize what the Sandaime might be planning, placing a Hyuuga, Uchiha, and an Uzumaki on the same team. It didn't even occur to her that three of Konoha's most prestigous clans were not working together on a single team.

She only knew that she was on Naruto's team. The blush came soon thereafter. Her face flushed redder by the minute, silently hoping that the Uchiha wouldn't give her away. Sasuke tsked and turned aside, but didn't say so much as a word to either of them.

"I'd...I would l-like that v-very m-much." She somehow forced the words out and her heart gave a silent trill as the redhead broke into triumphant shout. "I-If it's alright with Hokage-sama...

Naruto scowled at the Sandaime, waiting for a reply.

"Na-Na-

A whirlwind of emotion roiled behind those eyes. Hinata could see confusion. The faintest touch of rage and resentment. Disbelief, lurking behind his complacent stare. A dash of fear, as he awaited the reply he'd been anticipating upon his return to the village. Hinata couldn't find the words to admit that she hadn't recognized him in the beginning, and it punched a hole in her heart. Naruto hadn't the slightest clue that this was the case, but the realization hurt and warmed Hinata all the same.

_'Arigatou, Naruto-kun.'_

"Gomen." Naruto laughed suddenly, waving all the tension away with a hand. "I'm still getting used to all of this, I'm just so excited!" Hinata twisted to face him, squinting against the harsh afternoon light and peering upward at the object of her affection. Now that she knew his voice, Hinata recognized him right away. His appearance had been radically altered and his chakra shone brighter than ever before, but she couldn't be mistaken. His face crinkled in confusion, those eyes squinting and leaving his expression oddly fox-like.

"Naruto-kun...

Sarutobi had shivered upon recognition of the chakra. Hinata _convulsed_. Spasming in protest and aching in longing, her muscles throbbed and her bones ached against the remnants of Naruto's chakra, an energy that she knew as intimately as her own. And how could she not? Naruto had so much chakra that he was leaking the stuff, even from his academy days. But that was not why Hinata gave a small cry of pain; nor why she turned away from the handsome redhead greeting her with a nonchalant smile.

_'This really is..._

Hinata was keenly aware of her heart performing backflips in her stomach. She felt sick, but in a way, it was welcome. She pursed her lips and forced herself to ignore it as his lips opened, parting with a yawn to reveal sharpened canine teeth. It took all she had not to flinch. This was not a stranger. This was Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. He hadn't changed a bit. She could see it in his face, the way those lips jutted outward in a fake pout of confusion, the squinting of the eyes, everything about told her he was still the same on the inside which meant that he was still the same and if he was the same that meant-

_'Naruto-kun.'_

Remarkably, his appearance didn't change her feelings. He could cut his hair, change his name, and even perform the most complicated henge in existence, and Hinata would still love him. She missed his blond hair terribly, but she simply adored the silken curtain of crimson that spilled down his back and shoulders. Hinata could count on both hands the number of shinobi who'd kill to have such soft and manageable hair as well as the face and body to go with them.

"So?" Naruto was staring at her expectantly, Hinata realized. "Is...that alright with you?"

That Naruto pulled off the look and wasn't using his uproariously titled "Oiroke no jutsu" was a feat in-and-of itself. Damn. Now her heart was racing. Too fast. Everything was happening so quickly, much, much too quickly and she was already feeling faint and that meant she was going to be dizzy. She felt it, another fainting spell coming on as her her cheeks flushed the deepest brightest flash of hot pink. There was no way to relieve the powerful percussion inin her ears; and she began to swoon.

Hinata bobbed her head.

"I-I'll do my best." Hinata weakly bobbed her head and squeaked out an affirmative. "Na-Naruto-kun. Also...I...wanted to say... Her lips parted ever so slowly as she pushed her fingers togethet again and willed herself not to look away from him. Naruto _whooped _loudly, abruptly breaking his carefully composed composure.

"YATTA!"

_'Nani?'_

He strode forward in that instant, Hinata squeaked as though someone had pinched her. Hard. Very, very hard. Flushing a shade darker than his hair, Hinata buried her head in his neck as strong arms wrapped aroun her waist and sent her spinning into the air. He laughed, and somehow, she was laughing too, as he swept her round and around and around. Finally Naruto placed her down, cheeks visibly flushed from the exertion, not realizing that Hinata was blushing for entirely different reasons.

_'I can't...hold out...anymore..._

She went limp.

"Oi!" Naruto yelped, eyes flying wide and disbelieving as Hinata drooped in his arms. "Hinata!"

Hinata had fainted.

"Well, now that we've handled that," Sarutobi rose from his desk. Naruto was surprised to see the old man donning his Kage robs and hat. "Naruto-kun, there's something you need to know. I thought it would be best to keep it a secret, but the last sixteen years have opened my eyes and I've come to realize something." Naruto was still cradling Hinata, and Kakashi was suddenly there to take the girl from his arms, and in the next instant Sasuke was behind him.

"You may hate me for the truth of this, but it must be said." Naruto mutely followed the Sandaime to the stairs, wondering why Kakashi had stayed behind and Sasuke followed. "Sixteen years ago, the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi by sealing it into a young boy." He bobbed his head in agreement. "That child was his son." Naruto shielded his face as they reached the top stairwell and the door was surreptiously flung open to reveal the rooftop balcony.

Sarutobi walked straight to the rail and beckoned without looking back at either of them.

"Come, both of you."

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance, but complied.

"Naruto, that child was you." Hiruzen explained, gestureing the bustling populace waiting below, a few familair faces amongst them. "The yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into you." Naruto froze. It was as though his soul had been stripped naked and all the kunai in the world had flown and sank into it at once. He struggled for breath. Hyperventilated. He looked like he would laugh, cry, scream and roar all at once and he did neither, his visage turning upward in nameless, disbelieving confusion as Sarutobi looked on with pride, raised his voice and declared for all the popluace to hear:

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are the Yondaime's son. Your surname is Namikaze. Your father, Minato Namikaze, and your mother, Kushina Uzumaki, loved you with such _intensity _that they gave their lives too ensure that you would live on, that you would live in peaceful times. They wanted you to know your heritage. Your legacy. Know you now who you are. You are the son of paretns who were proud, so very _proud _to have brought you into this world, their son, Naruto Namikaze!"

Naruto looked as though the darts had hit him again, and said nothing. Sasuke weakly placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, but he needn't have bothered; Naruto didn't even tremble. He quivered, a strange sound rising from the back of his throat as he touched one hand to his face and began to breath slowly, very slowly as he tried to strady himself.

"Jiji...I didn't quite catch that." He mumbled. Did you just say that I'm...

Sarutobi nodded, and raised the boy's arm for the village to see and hear:

"THIS BOY IS THE CHILD OF NAMIKAZE MINATO!"

* * *

_(Meanwhile/Unknown Location)_

_"I fucking knew it."_

She caught the kunai, tip to finger.

Flipped it again.

Caught.

Flipped.

Caught.

She realized what she was doing and jammerd the kunai back in its holster, just as her clone dispersed miles away. She gripped the branch tightly as the bunshin's memories and experiences came back to her, and she was perturbed. _Namikaze, huh? _A t length she sighed, detecting another pop in her mind. Lovely. One of her clones had gone rogue and spend most of its money trying to get past security and that had failed specatacularly.

The last one had just been stabbed.

"F-F-Fu-sama?"

She stood, wiped the dew from her forehead protector, and spat into the ground.

"Fu-sama?"

"What." She spat sulphorusly. "Are we ready to leave for the exam?"

"H-Hai!" Her servant bowed stiffly and began to back away. "We are ready to leave at your leisure, mistress jinchuuriki-sama! Is there anything...else...?"

**Splat.**

Fu pulled her hand out of the woman's chest, killing her in an instant as she crushed her heart. The elderly woman gave a rasping rattle and rolled to the side, her body little more than a lifeless shell with the life drained from its eyes. Fu chuckled, and licked the blood from her fingers, savoring the tangy metallic tang of death and licking the tan digits clean even as she shouldered her pack and set off at a leisurely stroll, the three shadowy blurs that were her teammates and sensei, accompanying her departure.

"I told you...not to remind me of that."

* * *

...**You can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel-random quote/**

* * *

**A/N: ENTER THE SEVEN TAILED JINCHUURIKI! Bwah so many reviews! As to Sasuke's gender I'm making it ambigous for now based on the poll because some of ya'll apparently voted for a female Sasuke in the harem or something in that order XD Anywho,****I wanted to make everything as genuine as possible according to everyone's personality and what-not, but several characters really shone in this chapter moreso than other's as you'll soon find out in the Chunin Exams..., as do a few other notable characters. **

**Oh, and remember there IS a poll, and that poll will ultimately determine who will be in the harem; it'll be a sizeable amount, but nothing too extreme. **

_**CHUNIN EXAMS START IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! STAY TUNED XD**_


	4. Team Seven Reborn

**A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! I WORKED MY ASS OFF ON THIS CHAPTER! ASSKICKING! DRAMA! ACTION! FLUFF! EPICNESS! YOU WILL FIND IT HERE!_I'm so glad all of you are enjoying the effort I'm putting into this story! __Alright, since this is the fourth chapter, so lets get down to business shall we? First, sorry for the typo in the last chappy. I had meant to say that. Naruto was GONE for three weeks, meaning he arrived the day that Sarutobi was to have the meeting. Hence the three weeks bit, detailing how long he'd been GONE with the clones entering the village only shortly before the original arrived. Also this story WILL be a bit different from the canon/manga/anime in certain aspects as expected, and I promised you'll love what I have in store for Naruto and the gang. If any of you think Naruto or anyone is being just a little OOC in this chapter(or any others) remember, Naruto has the Rinnegan, Sasuke got the Mangekyo, and Naruto just promised to help Sasuke KILL HIS BROTHER. Now Hinata is on their team. Yeah, I just put three of THE most powerful doujtutsu in EXISTENCE on a team._**

**_People WILL die in this fic, both good and bad. I promise you'll be surprised._**

**_'Nuff said._**

**_Now without further adue...Q&A Time!_**

**_Q: Are Naruto and the new Team Seven going to be badass? A: HELLA YES! All three of them are going to become stronger now that Kakashi's personally supervising their training. How strong you ask? Well...you'll see. You'll also see NARUTO use his brain a bit more than the normal one does..._**

**_Q: WTF is Sasuke a girl or not? A: First off no more WTF's this is a WTF story after all. Secondly, that depends on the POLL. You want it, vote. You don't, tell me why not if you'd like I am always happy to hear the people's opinion XD_**

**_Q: Is Sakura gone? _****_A: Nope, she only replaced Hinata on Team Kurenai and Hinata replaced HER on Team Kakashi. She still has a significant part to play in this story. SasukexSakura IS still possible but unlikely at best, as I've already an idea who to pair Sasuke with if it comes to that. Again you'll love it, I promise._**

**_Q: Will Killer Bee be in the exams? A: Well...I wouldn't think he'd be IN them per-say, since he's already Jonin by this point and sitll MUCH older than Naruto, MUCH older. He might make an appearance as one of the Sense for Kumo tho, who knows?_**

**_Q: Is Sasuke gonna go insane with power? A: Not yet, if at all._**

**_Q: Why are ALL the villages in the exam this time around? A: Really? COME ON! Because EVERYBODY wants to see what just frickin' shook the world like a pebble! Plus its just funny to see Samui and a few other shinobi when they weren't quite so badass._**

**_Q: Will Orochimaru still attempt an invasion? A: Very good question. Who knows what the snake-teme has planned..._**

_**All that aside, I hope you all enjoy all the wonderful emotion and drama I've eked out in this chapter and will continue to pour out into every chapter! I've been told that this is my best work yet, and frankly that may be true. Who knows? But this ficlet is still alive and kicking after all the wonderfully rave reviews you've given me**__**. Again, I'm just so glad all of you are enjoying reading this as I am writing all of it b**__**ut enough of all this blah-blah-BLAH! **_

_**Let's get started, Dattebayo!  
**_

**_(Team Seven Reborn)_**

It was a little past midnight when Naruto realized he wasn't going to fall asleep.

The events of a tumultuous afternoon ricocheted around in his head, blasting holes in his skull; paving a path for doubt and suspicion to assail him and his every thought. Reeling from the news, sifting through the remainsof a life so harsh and cold that it was already a distant memory, Namikaze Naruto held his head in his hands and wondered. He tried to find some measure of relief or even closure amidst his painful past, but there were none to be found. He sought a home for his confusion, ultimately looking to give his past experiences a place in this perplexing puzzle thrust upon him in the eve of the best/worst day of his new existence...

...and found more questions than answers.

_"Uugh."_ He kicked at a nearby book; sent it skittering across the floor. "I don't know whether I'm happy or pissed off anymore!" He swept a gaze around the room, the remnants of the party thrown for him still glaringly present in the streamers and presents that littered the floor of his apartment. Naruto had come home expecting a good long sleep after a long journey. Instead he'd walked into noise and brightness and a small party organized for him by Kakashi.

Presents littered his room.

Gifts from friends and well-wishers alike, Naruto hadn't the foggiest of what he should do with some of them. Dangling from his weapons belt, the trench knives of Asuma Sarutobi glimmered softly in the moonlight. These he could use. Draped over a chair, a storage scroll lay unfurled. That one had been a gift from Kurenai-sensei. Yet another useful item. Further buried within the small mound of varying items, possibly the most intriguing gift of them all, dangled four outlandishly simple weights.

These were the gifts from Kaksahi-sensei's "youthful rival" one Maito Gai. Naruto mentally classified the man as Super Bushy Brow Sensei. He stared at said weights now with a look of idle and distant curiousity, noting the clasps and rounded belts as he pulled them off the floor_. Training weights_. It brought a rare and brief glimpse of enthusiasm to his face. These were meant to be worn underneath ones attire, locked down upon the arms and legs with chakra for the purposes of training whereas their weight could be increased at steady intervals.

Naruto had never met Maito Gai before today, but he liked the man already.

He was attaching the weights to his body with his left hand, so he drew the tanto with that hand. A baleful _hoot-hoot _of the owl sounded outside as Naruto inspected his gift. It was straight, nine inches long, and had an angled point for punching through armor. He swept the weapon through the air in a gentle left to right stroke. Moving as though the sky were his easel and the tanto his brush, weaving a dazzling streak of white chakra behind the blade with every sweep and and flow of Kakashi-sensei's most cherished possesion.

Crap, now he _really _wanted to cry.

It had taken Naruto every ounce of his considerable self control to remain stone-faced when Kakashi laid it within an unprepared palm. Originally this tanto belonged to _his _father, the infamous "White Fang" of Konoha. Sensei had gone to all the trouble of reforging the blade just for this very occasion, and Naruto had been powerless to refuse such a masterful piece of work. He sheathed the tanto and sealed it into the scroll with all the rest of his gifts, mentally reminding himself to look through them later as he'd no doubt be receiving more in time. Hinata hadn't given him anything yet, but hey, he could wait if she was taking that long to work on it, right?

_'Of course I can! Hinata's my teammate, after all.'_

Heartened by the thought, his gaze flickered over the remaining items, catalouging them for later use.

The Rookie Nine, excluding Sasuke and Hinata, hadn't been at the party OR the assembly, and as such, had yet to give him anything. Naruto didn't mind. His last clone had popped quite some time ago, dousing him with the memories and experiences of its unintended "lunch" with Ino Yamanaka. Perhaps she'd give him something. Doubtless the kunoichi had more questions for him, still. Naruto caught himself before the thought could deteriorate further, and willed the disparaging idea away with a shake of the head.

He shouldn't be thinking such things.

**"Says the fool to the sage."**

"Do I have to cut you _again?" _Naruto allowed his gaze to slide toward Kubikiri Houcho, safe in its sheathe; easily within his reach. The foul, sulphurous odor withdrew from his lungs as he purposefully sought the blade with a hand, by far the most prominent of all his gifts next to the numerous windmill shuriken given to him by Sasuke. His hand closed around the handle and dark prescence cringed against the threat, but refused to be baited into anything resembling human language. Naruto cringed against this mysterious entity, but refused to let his weakness show.

"Go away. I don't need you right now."

**"Is that so?"**

Demeaning laughter.

**"You'll need me sooner than you think, kit."**

"Perhaps," Naruto thrust his will upon the voice and crushed it with an imposing mental glare. "But _I'll _be the one to make that decision...Kyuubi!"

**"Those eyes!"**

It recoiled, spitting obscenities as the Rinnegan appeared within its cage. The malevolent prescence lingered under that baleful glare for a moment longer, ans faded. Naruto waited until he was certain that the beast was truly gone, and only _then _did he shudder, touching a hand to his chest, berating himself for his now hammering heart. A trickle of rage wormed its way out of the seal and coiled into his chakra before he'd the chance to rout it at the source.

Too close, much too close.

"I told you, this is _my _body." Naruto was sweating profusely when he opened his eyes and returned, Rinnegan flashing imperiously. "You just so happen to owe me rent, idiot."

**"This isn't over!"**

Naruto buried the fox within layer upon layer of chakra.

_"Oh, its over."_

He scrubbed at his eyes, weary from a lack of sleep. Knowing you had a homicidal demon in your stomach wasn't the best recipe for sanity. Especially when said demon yearned for nothing more than complete and total destruction and intended to use your body as the catalyst by which it would bring about this annihilation. Namikaze Naruto flopped onto his back and groaned. Slapping one hand on the nearby desk by his bed, he exhaled furiously, groping in the darkness for something and coming away with a thin pamphlet.

He leafed through its contents in a desperate attempt to stave off his impending madness. It did little to ease his troubled mind. Even as he stared into the distance and thumbed through the profiles within, his mind was gone. He was thinking, reflecting, meditating, trying to trace back to the sudden revelation of his lineage and the startling flash of bitter reality. So he really _did _have a father and he really _did _have a mother, then.

He was the Yondaime's son!

_'After all this time I finally know!' _Naruto tried and failed to burgeon his mood with the thought.

He should be happy!

Once the euphoria had worn off, Naruto _was _a little buzzed. Perfectly natural, given what he'd been through in the last twenty-four hours. He probably wasn't going to sleep at all tonight, the problem striking him as a relief, rather than a bother. So he was still awake and therein lie the problem. Naruto wasn't excited, not anymore. Yes, he had parents. Yes, he'd been part of a family. Yes, he'd been loved, coddled, and cared for by a mother and father most could only dream of ever having.

_But that was then and this was now._

They were gone now. No amount of chakra or any jutsu -none that the Rinnegan supplied- could bring back the long since dead. It was a sombering thought, to know despite all this power, he was still powerless when it mattered the most. He couldn't do anything to bring them back. He could bring peace, he could save other children from this fate, from suffering through childhood alone, but this was a small comfort compared to the life of loneliness he'd lived.

It was a sombering thought.

Left with a set of strange looking kunai from his father, and an unopened letter from his mother, Naruto owned little-to-nothing of them. He had no photographs. He had no toys, no memento by which to know and remember them. His memories of Minato and Kushina -he still couldn't bring himself to call them his parents- were faint, blurred, indistinct. He knew of them only by word of mouth and their illustriously infamous career as Konoha shinobi.

So infamous they were listed as _S-Class _in the Kirigakure Bingo Book he was currently reading. Naruto skimmed through this hive of scum and villiany and frowned. His disgust becoming more and more prevalent and prominent with every second that he lingered. Unbelievable. Naruto paused upon the photo of one Kisame Hoshigaki and felt his lips curl within a silent and disbelieving hiss. Like Zabuza this man was also listed as a Missing Nin and in further similarity with Momochi, he wielded a sword, though his weapon had been wrapped in bandages.

"Samehada, huh?"

Intrigued, Naruto thumbed through the pages for a closer inspection.

_'If this guy is anything like Zabuza-san then... _

He found only a single line beneath the man's rather impressive stats.

_Status Unknown. _

Dissapointed, Naruto moved on from the shark skinned man, paying him no more heed than he would have an insect. It seemed that Six of the Seven Swordsmen had either died or become nukenin at one point, that or they simply hadn't passed on their blades. Distracted from his grief for a moment, Naruto spared a glance for Kubikiri Houcho. Smiled and noted that the break in the blade was all but gone now that he'd wiped the blood away.

Kubikiri Houcho absorbed the iron in an enemy's blood and used that iron to repair itself. A loathsome ability for a shinobi, but an invaluable trait for any swordsman. This sword could never be truly broken and should such an event ever occur it need only bathe itself in enough iron-enriched blood to regenerate during combat. Though Naruto preffered the trench knives to kenjutsu, he shuddered all the same and silently thanked Zabuza for offering him the blade in the first place. Fearsome indeed. Of course, the remaining six weren't listed in this Bingo Book when he looked for them; save for Samehada, of which Naruto knew absolutely nothing.

**"Why not collect them?"** The Kyuubi prodded again, invoking another flash of annoyance from its host.** "Forewarned is forearmed, after all." **Naruto didn't bother crushing it this time, though he did entertain the option. Kyuubi was unusually persistent tonight, and even more vague than usual. Why on earth would he _want _the remaining six swords? Naruto loathed kenjutsu. Ironic, considering he wielded Kubikiri Houcho, his only claim to the blade being that it was out neccesity; because it was Zabuza's gift to him. Collecting the other blades wouldn't do anything to bring about peace, and truly he didn't want a thing to do with them.

Konoha was only _just _beginning to accept the name of Namikaze Naruto. Unforunately, the name Uzumaki sill held oower among some, and a chill for the redhead. He had no desire to invoke the past ever again, more out of fear for what he might become than any physical or mental injury. Some things were better left buried. Romping around Kirigakure a week before the Chunin Exams wasn't the best way to maintain Naruto's image as the bringer of peace, and he abhored the thought.

"Do you honestly expect me to believe that rubbish?" Naruto paged past another ex-member of the Seven Swordsmen. "Razing Kirigakure to the ground isn't exactly on my to-do list this week." That one earned him a sardonic chuckle from the fox, conveyed through the insufferable link they shared. And why wouldn't it? After today, Naruto had a small armory at his disposal, as well as a platoon of Anbu assigned to his direct command and his alone.

**"Oh, I don't know?"** The Kyuubi's jailer felt a rolling of the eyes somewhere in the cell. **"Sell them on the black market, keep them as your own personal collection, barter for peace with Kirigakure in exchange for their safe return, hmm**?" Naruto frowned at the likelihood of the third suggestion. Surely Kyuubi had some motive for telling him about the swords. Why else would it suddenly chime in with a crucial piece of information he'd never have realized on his own?

"Oi, stupid fox."

**...What?"** It was wary, clearly prepared for another mental assault.

"You wouldn't...happen to know where any of these would be...would you?"

Naruto scowled at the howl of laughter coming from within his mind.

**"HA! If I told you _that _then what good would you be?"**

It was then, flicking past the profile of a man known as Raiga, that Naruto spied an unmistakeable flash of platinum blond amongst the blood flecked pages. Kyuubi hissed, if it were possible for a fox to hiss than that was the sound it made as its amusement withered. Naruto felt it smash against the doors of the seal and make no headway, eyes aglow with viscious and cruel intent asi. He might've laugcruel and unnatural pallor as it reneweda furious snarl of hatred as he too, detected that familiar visage.

**"Yondaime...Hokage!" **

Naruto was perfectly aware of the beast gnashing its teeth behind the cage, but his attention was neither here nor there. He was too busy retracing his journery through history, paging backwards. No longer skimming; inspecting, rigorously peering at each photograph as it appeared and disappeared, dismissed in his search for that sudden flash of yellow. He refused to believe that any of them were of Konoha Origin. Then he was there. _There,_ at the very back of the book, tattered and frayed. There, scrawled in perfect penmanship, the name stood, bold and proud amongs the others as if it were aware of its own infamy.

Minato Namikaze.

There were more numbers than words. Statistics and succesful missions, ranging from D, C, B, A, and S-Rank, littered the page. Each entry precisely penned by an unwavering hand despite the specks of crimson that adjourned the outer edges of the parchment. Damnation. Hot tears dribbled from rippling orbs as Naruto gazed upon the name Minato Namikaze, also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash. Naruto marveled at his father's appearance, enrpat with attention, fixated upon how alike they must have seemed only days before.

There was one more page.

Naruto flipped without thinking and immediately, he froze. His heart stopped. _It just stopped_. He couldn't breathe. No matter how he tried and tried _and tried,_ oxygen refused to come; leaving him alone to choke and die in disbelief for what must have felt like an eternity. He felt dead inside. Someone was screaming at him but there was a great and terrible roaring in his ears, his own frantic and fading pulse struggling to resuscitate him, slowing and faltered. He was both dead and alive in that horrifying moment of brilliant crystal clarity. Without warning his heart slammed back to life. Bringing it much need of air and oyxgen, Naruto _finally _breathed, gasping and spluttering as his body learned how to be alive again.

"M-Mom." His voice cracked painfully and Naruto winced, unable to speak.

With an infinite and everlasting clarity, he took her in. He lingered within the plethora of information that was to be found within the book; her skills, abilities, personality, everything. Scarlet hair, kind eyes, and an unbelievably familiar smile that bespoke a roiling temper and hyperactiveness far surpassing his own. He looked just like mom now, with her awesome red hair. So this was what sensei must've meant when he'd called Naruto dead-ringer for the terrifying "Crimson Spiral" of Konoha.

_'This is...mom.' _He daren't speak aloud, but he felt strong enough to think this thought. _'This is...my mother.'_

Naruto grinned tearfully despite himself, basking in her exuberant grin as long as he could. Then he turned the page, folded it so Minato's profile would align with her own. But this meant turning the book on its side, and as he did so, something slipped through the loose binding. Naruto barely caught a glimpse of it as he drifted past. A bookmark? He natched at it and swore sulphurously when it slipped away from him, determined to fall to the floor.

**"You dropped it."** He could _feel _the fox facepalm at his own clumsiness. **"Are you really that much of a klutz?"**

"Shut up!"

Flopping onto his stomach, Naruto lunged for it, and crashed to the floor, facefirst. Oompf. But he'd caught it, and had the where-with-all do drag himself back into the bed and use the moonlight for the lightning, allowing him to see what he'd been unable to see before. fingers. This was no mere bookmark! This was...was...what _was _it? Naruto made a strange noise of confusion, flicking a nearby lamp so as to better see the worn and faded image.

"Now then," He muttered, squinting, braiding his hair back into a topknot when it threatened to obscure his view. "Lets see what you are..._eh?" _Under proper lightning, Naruto recognized this tattered piece of parchment for what it truly was. A photo! But not just any photo. This was a photo taken some time ago such was the state of the background, and the four individuals within it. Naruto swiftly recognized his mother and soon thereafter the man who was undeniably his father, Minato. He needn't have been a genius to know why mom had one hand over her stomach. Cradling it with a warm and ferocious smile as though she'd shred into anyone who dared threaten the swelling bulge poking outward of her dress.

And then he frowned.

"Nani?"

He peered closer at a certain white haired individual.

"NANI!"

Naruto knew this man! He vividly recalled his experience with the man via kage bunshin. This asshole had kicked his clone into the hotspring, the no good bastard! Naruto seethed at the fellow and his upturned grin, unable to comprehend _why _he was in the photo, or why, for that matter, he had an arm draped over Minato's shoulder!. Clearly, dad knew this frog-ridding wierdo, but there was no way in the nine circles of hell that these two were friends! Not at all! His father would never know someone like that! Perverted old jiji! Naruto glared at the way the two were grinning, almost like a master and student and Naruto knew that look, it was the very one he'd worn when he'd graduate and Iruka-Sensei gave him his...

...headband.

_"Masaka." _Naruto murmurred the realization striking deeper than any blade. Master and student? This guy and his pops? No! The floor crumpled beneath the sudden surge of chakra. "If this guy really does know about my dad, then I'll kick his ass for not telling me earlier!" Furious, he plucked a kunai from the pouch splayed at the foot of his bed. "And with these," He laid the book down on the bed, and stared for what felt like an eternity. He placed the photograph within, but did not close the Bingo Book. Taking one kunai, he grabbed another, one for each hand so as to better distribute balance.

"These are dad's kunai." Naruto had to steel himself against the small starburst of pain that came with the declaration."These are..._my kunai."_

They differed in look from a standard kunai by having three blades instead of one. Wrapped tight around the handle, also thicker than the mass produced version was a seal. Rumor had it this was the "marker" for his father's infamous teleportation ability; said to make the knife a bit heavier than a normal kunai. Naruto tested its weight with a slash at empty air. This kunai felt right. It was good and strong and all the things his father had been and the twin prongs on either side were an ingenious additon to the already lethal design.

"When I find that crotchety old geezer...he's dead."

Smiling, he closed the book careful not to damage the spine. It took all of five seconds to seal both the photo and the Bingo Book into the scroll, and another three to free himself from the bed. Picking out another one of signature shirts, Naruto donned a black turtleneck, yanking his head through the opening and taking only a moment to smooth his hair afterward. Yanking an arm through a sleeve, he spared the Uzumaki crest a glance at the back, shrugged, and pulled the other arm through as well. The floor was cold and hard beneath his feet as he locked Kubikiri around his chest, taking care to double-check the straps that now held several of his father's kunai.

Naruto tested the weights on either arm and leg, satisfied that they weren't too heavy or restrictive at the moment. He padded softly forward on the balls of his feet, slipping on his slacks, taking great care not to don his sandals yet. He crept toward a bag laid upon the nearby counter, snatched it up, checked its conents, and nodded. Naruto spared one last glance around his apartment, determined he'd taken everything of value, and bowed low, deep at the waist.

"Sayonara."

He inflected, bidding farewell to the apartment that had been his home for the last fifteen to sixteen years of his life.

"But I'm afraid I can't live in squallor forever."

He swept toward the exit in a blur, intent on leaving this place before indecision seized him. The sound of footsteps reached his ears and he hurried his pace. The bag at his back jostled wordlessly as he took his belongings and slung them over a shoulder, turning toward the door in the same intsant that the knob rattled. Naruto frowned, and suddenly all was still. The doorknob jostled again, click-click-clicking as the lock was picked; turned one last time to ascertain that no traps had been laid.

Well course they wouldn't. He'd already disarmed the trip wire meant to take off his head, then flayed the fool who dared lay it. A sharp cry of disbelief rose from just beyond the door. _Oopsie_. Perhaps that genjutsu _had _been a tad roo excessive, given that he was currently staring at man facedown in a pool of his own drool and piss. Well, maye he shouldn't have left him outside either, but too late for regrets now, as the Anbu were remarkably rapid in their response.

Naruto had only _just _slipped out the back, wrapping the surroundings around him to function as camoflauge, when they entered. He watched, arms folded as they broke through the barricade door and frame and leapt to defend the Yondaime's son.

All they found was an open trapdoor, their charge long since gone into the night.

"Namikaze-sama!" A hawk masked ANBU was the first through the opening tanto drawn in one hand and kunai in another. Trained to asess the situation first and ask questions later, the elite glanced this way that, confusing the boy's rage for fright before he finally realized that there was no danger. By then eight of his fellows had burst through the opening, various weapons of their own drawn or in the process of being removed from sheathes, holsters and scabbards, each ready to give their life in defense of Minato's child.

_'Huh.' _Amusement trickled through the camoflauge as he watched them surge into the room, unaware he'd slipped through_.'They must be knew. The other ones weren't this quick when the villagers gave me my daily beatings.' _He watched, waited until the last edged through, and placed a palm against the outer wall of his apartment. Pouring his chakra into the cracks and structurally unsound points of the foundation, Namikaze Naruto _pushed, _and with a great and tearing groan, the structure came tumbling down around them in humorous fashion.

Deprived by the structural support, the Anbu were left standing amongst the wreckage, dumbfounded. Naruto's intent had never been to harm, only to demonstrate and awareness of their prescence as he'd always had. These were ANBU? Ridiculous. Haku was _certainly _a better bodyguard than these dimwits. Gods, even Sakura could've heard them coming! Naruto paused, froze, and slammed the lid down on his thoughts before they could roil out of control again and swiftly pocketed the kunai.

_'Kage Bunshin no jutsu.'_

In that instant that he uncrossed his fingers from the seal, the kunai flared. Naruto blinked, gawping as a twin helix, gold and saffron, rose from the hilt of the kunai, pushing itself across the room in an inexorable tide. Bathing all in pale saffron. Naruto felt himself being tugged. He was being pulled, twisted inside out and right-side-up and every which way in between as the strange wrappings on the kunai thrummed loudly, roaring into his ears and deafening him.

But Naruto was smiling.

_"Those kunai will only respond to you, Naruto-kun."_ Sarutobi's words came to him and Naruto smiled the first step of reluctant acceptance. _"Minato left them for you as living proof that you **are **his son."_

"Rise and shine." The clone reached down to heft the man up by his collar, making itself visible in the same instant an ANBU turned toward the ravaged wall the bunshin now occupied. When the man didn't reply the clone flicked a finger, manipulating the liquid so that the man was doused with his own fluids, eliciting a gagging hacking snarl as he jerked back to wakefulness. The original chuckled and slunk away into the night, the voices of his doppleganger and the others fading into the distance as he headed for his destination.

There really was something oh-so satisfying about preventing your own death and making a complete ass of the man sent to kill you.

Cries of shock and disbelief could be heard from within his ruined abode as Naruto waltzed down the street, humming a tuneless tune. His loose stride gave no hint as to the inner conflict roiling within, _hitiate _gleaming brightly in the moonlight. Fully dressed and with a satchel of clothes at his back, Naruo kept one hand in each pocket of his coat as he encountered the occasional passerby. Most were sound asleep at this hour, but those he did encounter inclined their heads in respect for their Namikaze.

"Namikaze-sama."

"Naruto-dono."

It took Naruto all he had NOT to laugh as he walked past two jonin, men who'd been quite cruel to him in his younger years. For a moment he was tempted to use his status as an excuse to reprimand them for their actions and have them arrested. With some effort, he refrained from doing so. Let them smile and sweat and pray that he didn't come for them in the night. Fear was funny that way. It'd spread no matter what you said or did, and sometimes it could be as much an ally as an enemy.

Kubikiri Houcho inserted itself into the soil with a bonewrenching crunch.

"Pardon me," He began slowly, careful to keep himself facing forward. Already in his peripheals, the men froze. Naruto imagined their fear-ridden faces_ 'Is he going to have us executed' _plastered all over them in deep black kanji. Visibly twitching, they turned to face Minato's heir, who had yet to move, rooted to the spot. A cold and terrible wind gusted past them and then, only then did Naruto turn, his face slowly appearing over his shoulder as he curiously regarded the quivering shinobi a-ways behind him.

"Y-Yessir?"

His expression crumpled into an easygoing smile.

"Might one of you know where I can find the Hyuuga Compound?" Naruto closed his eyes, smiled, and the terror went to work. Each jonin gawped. First at him, then, upon realizing to whom they were questioning, back at themselves. Again they glanced toward one another, trying to decide who'd receive the unpleasant task of accompanying the boy who might be Hokage in the near future. Naruto gave them the equivalent of ten seconds and when no such answer was immediately forthcoming, shrugged, but in a way warning that he'd been terribly, _terribly _offended by their lack of commitment.

"I see," he said, leaving his back turned as he pulled Kubikiri Houcho back out from its place in the stone. "Well then gentlemen, I'm afraid I'll have to ask—"

"I-Its just ahead!" Naruto swiveled, Rinnegan locking upon the statuesque Jonin with a terrifying intensity. "B-But its...well, Hiashi-dono is m-most likely resting at this hour and b-besides, he h-has not allowed a non-Hyuuga to enter the compound since—"

"Whoever said I wanted to visit him at this unholy hour?" Naruto smiled and somehow this did little to relieve the men. "Thanks for the directions, then." Naruto bowed low at the waist to them, and by the time he'd straightened to full height, there was a long cloud of dust detailing the route they had taken to escape what they'd thought to be certain death. There was no one to witness the strange spectacle as Naruto smiled, skimmed a hand against the ground, and performed a hand sign, sending the earth rippling after them at an alarming rate of acceleration.

Revenge was so much sweeter when it wasn't revenge at all.

_"Many thanks." _He muttered, a rare glimpse of cruelty flickering through his in the distance he heard the screams and once again did nothing more than incline his head, mirror their respectful bow and continue onward. He had to weave through the streets now, taking great care to nod or smile at the passerby who happened to be out at this hour. As it was already more than two in the morning, the bars were emptying and most of those he encountered were either drunkards, buzzed, or so wrapped up in their own hatreds and obscurities that they paid this heavily armed redhead little, if any, attention.

"Oopsise...pa'don me theeeere...youngin'."

_"?"_

Naruto skipped aside just in time to avoid being tripped by an elderly man stumbling into his path. "EH! Watch were yer...hic!...going, ya big brute! Dont'cha know who I am, eh!" He blinked, adjusted his straw hat and shook his cane again, apparently satisfied. "You...you idiot, who do you think I am! I am the great Ōnoki, feared as Iwagakure's of Both Scales!"Oi! Kurotsuchi! Where'd da hell are ye, ye dangblasted..er...ah...whippersnapper!" Naruto crooked an eyebrow to the north as a dark blur bulleted out of the crowed, and darted toward them in the midst of the man's misguided rant.

"So this is where you were hiding!" Naruto flinched as she kicked him upside the head. "Onoki-sama! I told you to stay put!"

_'Oi oi, she's a violent one..._

"Kurotsuchi!" Onoki flailed his cane wildly and suceeded only in hitting himself. "Hit me again and see what happens!"

"Quit your bitching, you crotchety old coot! _Huh?"_ Naruto raised his hand placatingly when the kunoichi turned her wrath upon him. "Who in the hell're you, eh?" Filled with charign, Naruto attempted to tell her he'd only meant to help her grandfather, the smile betraying him when he noticed the man spiritedly waving his cane at the supposed culprit inquestion who'd impeded his progress. Kurotsuchi didn't take kindly to said smile and the two were nearing a total breakdown of conversation when Onoki abruptly decided he wanted another drink.

"Booze!" The old man bellowed suddenly, startling both shinobi and kunoichi alike. "Gotta get maself more...booze!"

"Oi! Gramps!" Kurotsuch shoved Naruto aside as if he were a paperweight. _"The bar already closed!"_ He stared after them for a moment, and facepalmed. What a weird girl. He didn't think anyone could hit that hard. Apparently so. Watching them stumble off into the distance, Naruto turned as well, setting out with all due haste. He made it all of three steps when the street detonated violently behind him, catapaulting Kurotsuchi as though she'd been no more than a sack of hapless potatoes. Naruto crossed and uncrossed his hands, already turned, kage bunshin catching the unconcious kunoichi before she could smash her head against the pavement.

**"Katsu!" **

Naruto hissed in surprise and disbelief as a fireball blossomed against his back. Jagged lances of pain and agony arched up his spine as he twirled, dragging a current of water to catch and absorb the next blast before it went off onhis shoulder. Zabuza's blade absorbed the brunt of the blast, but there was precious little to be done for the burns flowering between his shoulders. His vision tunneled, and somewhere in the distance the shadow clone laid Kurotsuch down, propping her up against the wall.

"Deidara!" Naruto whipped his hand around as the old man known as Onoki waved his cane at the sky. "Impudent child! Cease this at once I say! At once!"Another such bomb detonated less than two feet behind the man, catapaulting him head over heels in comedic fashion until a nearby cart brought his momentum to a jarring stop.

"Oi! Old man! Get the hell out of the street!" Naruto bellowed, but Onoki would not be placated, and continued to shout obscenities into the skies overhead. "Uugh! Your niece was right! Stupid old jiji, stay put and stay out of trouble, damnit!" He cussed as the inebriated Onoki staggered wildly, confused by the explosions, each sending dirt and gravel flying in every direction. Momentarily blinded by the flares, the crowd panicked, leaving Naruto to leap clear of another blast as it consumed the ground at his feet. He met the next explosion with limited sucess, his almighty push only succeeding in pushing the clay wad away, but not enough to leave its master unharmed.

"Damnit! I missed, Hmm!"

Coughing and spitting on smoke, Naruto whipped his gaze upward just as something whipped past his head.

"Shit!"

By some instinct he thought to look upward, and in that instant _something _landed in his hand. More out of instinct than anything, Naruto threw and inadvertantly saved the life of himself and many others. But because he'd tossed the lump _up _instead of across the street, everyone was only _deafened _by the blast, not killed. Sweeping around in search of his attacker, there was little more than a blur of mottled grey and white in his peripheals, but he saw it shooting toward the old man. Naruto was already moving, somehow across the street and then some, shoving the old geezer aside just in time for -was that a bird?- to scoop him up in its talons and sweep him away into the night.

"Get your ass off my art!" A young voice shrieked against the howling wind. "You're not the Tsuchikage!"

**"You're right about that part,"** A clawed hand exploded through the cushiony materal of the owl to closed around their thigh. Naruto dug deep and opened his eyes as crimson chakra burst of the seal and came roiling upward. **"Whoever this Tsuchikage fellow might be, I'll guarantee to you that I'm much, _much _more pissed off right now than he is!"** His captor muttered something that sounded like 'jinchuuriki' and then Naruto found himself falling as they sheared through his bonds, claws raking through his captor's legs, bloodying them badly.

Too late, he'd torn himself free of the bird and its master. He hung there for a moment, groping for some handhold and finding naught but empty air. Already plummeting to earth, he hurled all of his red chakra at the attacker and mount, knowing he couldn't possibly harm them from this distance. From the laughter above they obviously thought themselves to be quite safe and comfortably out of reach from the Kyuubi's chakra claws.

How wrong they were.

Naruto flung the chakra outward, forming a large hand. It extended from the cloak, forming a claw. The claw seized the birds tail, nearly tore it clear off, and held. Naruto used the cloak to reel himself in before they could use this chance to smash him across a building. A glint of metal caught his eye and an amused chuckle greeted his furious ascent, leaving the redhead only the briefest of moments to notice the kunai shearing through the tail.

_'Ah, shit.'_

"Nice!" Someone complimented. "Very artistic chakra, hmm!" Naruto glared as they hauled him upward, took him by the wrist and smirked. "You should be grateful, hmm! I like that artistic flare of yours, so I'll let you go this time, my fellow artist!" Naruto didn't even have a chance to get in a punch of his own, though he clearly should have done so while he had the chance. Grinning with a saddistic yet brilliant flare of pearly whites, they released him, and Naruto could do nothing but stare as the kunai slipped through his jacket, tore through his shirt, and buried itself to the handle in his stomach.

**"Kit!"**

Naruto was dimly aware of the Kyuubi's voice as the girl pulled him close, twisting the kunai deeper within his orangs. **"Snap out of it!"** His eyes flashed for a moment, but a knee placed into his solar plexus swiftly crushed whatever resistance the Rinnegan might have given. _Shit. _He thought to himself. _Shit shit shit._ She'd hit something important, he could feel it sloshing around inside. Whatever it was, he couldn't bring himself to move no matter how he willed his body to obey.

"Name's _Deidara_. Try and survive, hmm?" Naruto swallowed a mouthful of blood as she murmurred sweetly into his ear. "I'd just _love _to do this again sometime, _hmm!" _Clutching the knife, attempting to staunch the blood flow, Naruto was afforded a brief flash of blond ponytail and a feminine body before the roundhouse kick launched him off the bird. Staggered, Naruto stumbled backwards, eyes wide and disbelieving, awed by the sudden lack of balance, realizing all too late; he was going to fall. Then he saw a miniscule clay creature crawling across his chest. The blond smirked even as Naruto lost traction, two fingers flicking harmlessly outward.

"Ka-

The Kyuubi wasn't having any of it.

**"Don't underestimate me, asshole!"**

With a sudden surge of hate that wasn't his own, Naruto felt the fox pulling at his arms, hurling them into an impossible series of seals.

_"Katon: Zukkoku!" _

Naruto pulled all the chakra to his lungs in that last instant as he toppled out of sight, while Deidara was still in range. He had the added benefit of Kyuubi chakra behind the blast, a veritable firestorm of fury and frustration exploding from his lips and roiling over the unassuming Deidara, who hadn't the time to dodge. Naruto felt the last of his chakra slip away within a massive flare lighting the skies above Konoha, and then he was falling.

He had the where-with-all to peel the spider off his chest before his strength deserted him and gravity hauled him down to meet his doom.

Naruto swore a black and condemnatory oath as he fell, sinking like a sinking stone. Laughter filled the air above him as the cloaked figure and mount flew past, clearly intent to witness his demise. He had no excuse really. He'd been dangling over this very view, from this very bird, only moments before. Except now that view was enlarging. Rapidly. Naruto couldn't even bring himself to turn, knowing that the ground waited to meet his back, rushing up to to catch him. Even with Kyuubi's chakra coating his body, it was going to be a long and unpleasant descent to earth.

He had no way of slowing his fall.

Naruto had even _less _time to realize this as the ground filled all his vision and he flung his hands out. A thin wedge of chakra forced itself between him and death. Then he plunged into the earth. His outstretched hands did nothing, but the wedge of chakra protected him and drove him under the soil's skin like a splinter. The wedge collapsed an instant after he hit and the impact slapped him as brutally as if a giant had clapped his hands together over the whole of Naruto's body...

Naruto slammed into the ground with a _thump._ There was no white-hot flash of pain as he'd expected. Instead something warm, soft and infinitely yielding held him, cradled him, dragged him out of the ground as the stern terra firma slipped away from his body and revealed a thick and soppy mire into which he now splashed, harmlessly, ingesting only hot mud and water, as opposed to broken teeth and blood and bones.

_"Doton: Yomi Numa." _The girl he'd met only moments before removed her hands from the soil, from him, and the swamp dried upward, leaving Naruto on dry land. He tried to stand, failed, and coughed up a clod of earthen clay from his lungs. With Kurotsuchi's help, he flopped out of the stranger crater and onto his back, drinking deep the of the night. He lay there on his back for what seemed like an eternity, trying to understand what had just happened. He creaked an eye open, air coming weakly to his lungs as chakra faded, asessing his injuries; regenerating with a slow and painful popping of bones and flesh.

"Stupid!" Naruto felt his head twist aside as she slapped him. "What the hell would you've done if I hadn't caught you!" Naruto said nothing, staring up wordlessly at the kunoichi sitting atop his chest, blushing furiously despite herself. His face contracted in annoyance once he realized she was crushing his damaged lungs.

"Kurotsuchi!" A familair looking cane shooed the girl off his chest. "Let the boy breathe!"

Battered as he was, Naruto still had enough courtesy to blink as he saw the old codger he'd rescued. Gone was the sloppy drunkard he'd rescued moments before. The elder stared down at him with a look of hardened granite, wrinkled features betraying nothing but silence. Naruto tried to speak, tried to blink, _tried _to incline his head in affirmation, but the words didn't exactly come out the way he'd intended them to come.

"Naruto Namikaze, I believe it was?" Naruto was suddenly painfully aware of the man's face, a face that he'd been only once before. "You have our gratitude for that little shennanigan you pulled back in the plaza." He shifted his gaze, finally noticing that reflective bit of metal that Ōnoki's niece wore, and the symbol etched into the steel. Fuck, that was a hitiate. Double Fuck. This wasn't just any old man he'd saved; this was the _Tsuchikage _and his niece.

_"Fuck." _Naruto spat, his lips bubbling with blood as the Kyuubi patched his lungs. "What the hell...is Iwa...doing here?" Onoki spared the redhead a merciless grin, leaning forward to inspect Naruto. No, not Naruto, Naruto's eyes. The Namikaze bristled visibly, a sudden surge of chakra wrapping his body in a sheathe of crimson flame. Onoki paused, withdrew his fingers in caution. Naruto released a silent breath of relief, glad that it hadn't come to a confrontation after all he'd been through.

"Namikaze?" Any sentiment Kurotsuchi might have had for him vanished as a kunai tipped against his jugular. "As in the son of Minato Namikaze?" She ravished the bleeding blond with a glare. "Okay, forget what I said before." Naruto stiffened as her hand clenched around the kunai and prepared to drive it home, knowing that there was little he could do without harming himself even further within the proccess of doing said whatever it was he'd do if he even had a plan.

"Let's kill him."

But the old man only smiled.

"Help the boy up, Kurotsuchi."

Both Naruto and Kurotsuchi gawped aloud in disbelief.

"Help him up!" Onoki bellowed, using a stern tone that forced an immediate compliance from his niece. "Before you make a fool of yourself anymore than you already have!" He spared a glance around, indicating the numerous villagers gathered around them, most of which were very displeased by the threat toward their Namikaze. Naruto winced as he felt his ribcage realign itself, and his dislocated shoulder popping back into place.

He took her hand and begrudgingly, allowed himself to be assisted by Onoki's niece.

"In exchange for teaching that one some manners, I'll put you back on your feet again, as thanks." He winked conspiratively. "In exchange for cooperation, of course." Before Naruto could comment on his absolute refusel of such a thing, Kurotsuchi palced both hands upon his chest and _pushed_. For all his chakra, all his endurance, Naruto passed out almost immediately and offered no resistance as his wounds were tended.

Funny thing, how a few broken ribs could knock you flat on your back.

"Don't worry, we won't do anything to you." The Sandaime Tsuchikage tittered softly to himself. "But train hard, youngster. My subordinates won't lose in this exam." Naruto was dimly aware of the blur that appeared just outside his vision, and the unbearably bright green spandex of one Maito Gai. No one else wore that outlandishly "youthful" outfit. Onoki must have found the outfit truly hilarious, because Naruto awoke to the sound of laughter well within his ears, fading as the world roared back into focus...

The last thing he saw was Kakashi-sensei standing over him.

"Kami, what did you do?"

Naruto could only smile.

_(Sometime later...)_

"Wha...?"

"Time to wake up, my youthful student!" Naruto winced as someone hauled him into a standing position. "Your beloved awaits!" Naruto was still just opening his eyes, enough to glare bloody daggers at Super Bushy Brow Sensei as he performed another of his many "youthful" poses, flicked a thumbs-up, and darted around the corner. Naruto deadpanned after him for a moment, realizing what the Jonin had said to him, eyes tripled and huge.

"OI!" He rounded on the retreating Jonin, uncaring as the nurse protested his abrupt exit from the hospital window. "What was with that comment, oi!" Naruto ended up making a near total fool of him self and his entire clan when he realized he was only wearing a hospital gown. He glanced down at himself, back to the hospital, and shot back inside with such speed that the Yellow Flash looked like he'd been standing still in comparison.

Once fully garbed in all his gear, Naruto stomped outside, waving off ther staff's concerns.

Judging by the position of the moon and the bandages beneath his coat, it was at least a day after the attack. Naruto risked a glance at the moon, scowled and realized that it was, just as yesterday, only a little before midnight. Damnit! He'd already wasted a day! He could hear ANBU miles away, performing regular patrols, and it didn't take him long at all to recognize the nine blurs of mottled grey lurking in the shadows around him. Blast. So he had the protection detail again. For a moment, Naruto considered calling it a night. Instead, he walked the rest of the three yards separating him, from standing outside the Hyuuga complex.

Somehow, he couldn't help but feel as though he'd just botched something. He'd impressed the Tsuchikage. Great. Now Iwa was sure to be gunning for him in the exam. Naruto had no idea as to what it entailed, but if there was anything akin to a combat portion -and there had to be- then it as all the more imperative that he completed this technique tonight. And so he scoopled up the first thing he could find, which turned out to be a small pebble.

He hefted the pebble, deciding to follow through with his decision.

Glancing at the rattling window, then back to where Gai was hiding, Naruto tossed it in a palm, one, twice, thrice. He hurled it into the glass. With a soft but insistent tap-tap-tap the window emitted a toneless tune and someone flicked a light on within it. When no further reply was immediately forthcoming, he repeated the process. He stood there, armed to the teeth, smiling as the window slowly opened, and someone peeked into the night without any semblance of confusion, eyey wide awake and only lightly blurred by sleep.

_"Psst!" _Naruto waved insistently, hoping he wouldn't draw too much attention to himself. "Hinata!" He silently thanked mom for the red hair as he caught her attention. He froze as her face lit up in the brightest and most unbelievable moment of disbelief and exultation. Then it was gone, crumpling into confusion as she wondered why-oh-why he was standing outside her window in the dead of night and armed as though he were marching to war.

Still, her face lit up in the instant she saw him and that was good enough for Naruto.

"Can you make it down?" Naruto gestured silently.

She glanced inside, shook her head.

"Na-Naruto-kun...I can't...

He frowned.

"Then I'll come to you."

Within a sudden rush of wind, he was standing at her windowsill. Hinata fumbled backwards, surprised by the impossible movement. Naruto crouched there, rooted to the spot by chakra, red hair wild and splaying about him, giving him the appearance of a demon, just for a moment. And then he smiled and the illusion shattered. Hinata said nothing, blushed, tented her fingers together. Naruto saw just _why _she was flushing and he nearly fell off the roof as his body clamped down.

"Ah...Hinata...

"Y-Yes?"

Naruto clapped a hand over his eyes.

"Don't clobber me but...could you, um...wear something _else?" _Hinata blinked, both at the thin trickle of blood running down his nose and herself. Blushed, realizing she was still wearing the black lace nightgown that had once belonged to her mother in her yout. Stole another glance toward Naruto, making every effort not to look, and did something very much unlike herself. For once in her life, Hinata Hyuuga did not faint in his prescence.

"C'mon!" Naruto pestered, trying not to look. "Grab that pack I gave you! We're going to get Sasuke after this and-_oh crap."_

Burning in the face, Hinata fumbled for something more presentable, donning the first thing she could think to find. Unfortunately, the first thing would be her attire, as the door flew open. Naruto and Hinata froze, violet and pearl widening, tripling in the instant that they beheld a furious Hiashi Hyuuga. Now, Naruto had never met her fathe,r but he knew at once that the black fire burning behind his eyes was a thing to be avoided at all costs, as was the wrath of an overly protective parent.

"Daughter," Hiashi was forming the words very slowly. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, we're only-

"Did I ask you, _vermin?" _Hiashi didn't so much as glance at Naruto, riveted to his daughter he remained. "This is a matter between the Hyuuga clan. Kindly see yourself out, if you will." Naruto watched the way in which Hinata tensed, fear filling her eyes and leaving her powerless. He didn't like it. He didn't like it at all. Hinata was his teammate. He'd come her straight from the hospital just to see her and her dad, her own father, was being such an ass about it?

"Make me."

No, Naruto didn't like it at all, and he took some satisfaction as Hiashi's mouth worked in worldess fury.

"You...how dare you speak to me... as though your clan is-

Naruto glanced from Hiashi, to Hinata, and back to Hiashi. Hinata had all but frozen, her hand closed tightly around the leather cord of a small travel bag. Hinata was sacred stiff. Hiashi hadn't moved as of yet, but Naruto didn't want to give him the chance. Without thinking, he threw himself into the room, rolled past Hinata and thrust one hand forward, palm open, fingers splayed. There was only that brief moment of silence, of disbelief, and then the invisible wall of pressure spread between the two shinobi within an Almighty Push.

Hiashi flew.

Literally.

"I'm borrowing your daughter!" Naruto threw down a smoke bomb, taking Hinata by the wrist so as not to hurt her, hauling her outside as purple smoke billowed into the room. "I'm really sorry about all this, I'll ask for permission next time!" Shattered glass answered him and Naruto was forced to dodge kunai on the way out, sweeping Hinata into his arms and running for all he was worth. When considered that he possesed the Rinnegan, that was very, _very _fast.

Even then he could still hear Hiashi hollering in the distance.

Naruto had no idea why, but he was laughing as he fled toward the Uchiha Complex.

_(Uchiha Complex)_

Sasuke knew they were coming before the stone even hit the glass.

As such, he knew the identity of his attacker the instant a stone smacked against his window. Sasuke was already out of bed, a similair satchel of supplies waiting by the window. He nearly fell prey to a second pebble when he opened the latch and peered out into the light of the full moon. Naruto and Hinata stood aways below the Uchiha Complex. Naruto, decked out in full battle gear and Hinata directly beside him, slightly hesitant, though she too, had brought a change of clothes for this occasion.

"Oi! Naruto hissed upwards at him. "Get down here already!"

Sasuke couldn't fight the smile as he slung himself over the rail. Slid soundlessly over the tiles of the rooftop. Hurtled over the rain gutter, cleared before it could trip him. Contorting his body in midair, he performed a strange and spiraling pirouette, landing with nary a sound and directly before them. They'd packed the supplies and he'd brought the food pills. This was to be their first exercise as a team, and his two teammates were all but beaming.

Apparently the enthusiasm was contagious, because Sasuke was smiling, too.

"You're late, Naruto." Sasuke risked a cautious glance to the shadows behind them as they set out. "Is that any reason why're were being followed?"

Naruto glowered.

"Well then, excuuuuuse me for almost being blown to bits by a mad bomber bitch!" He realized his words and blushed, scratching at his head sheepishly. "Ehehe...I said that one out loud, didn't I?" He was suddenly sheepish, and Sasuke suddenly understood those burns he'd seen on his teammate only yesterday. That, and the reason why his friend was suddenly so out of breath, looking as though he'd just run a mile.

Sasuke froze, and frowned.

_'That blast earlier...that was Naruto?'_

The heiress to the Hyuuga Clan kept beside him, hands folded behind her back. Gone was the sweater and thick sweats, and it took Sasuke a moment to recognize. She no longer kept those intricate pins and needles in her hair as she'd had when he'd first seen her at the Hyuuga Compound. Instead, his newteamate wore drab grey slacks and a black shirt, the one she must've been wearing just beneath her jacket and the very same he'd seen only this afternoon. Uncurled, dark blue-black hair fell down across her shoulders in a curtain of raven blue and swayed ever so slightly in the breeze.

Likewise, Sasuke had also abandoned his tried-and-true Uchiha garb. Gone was his white shorts, replaced by a drab pair of black baggy slacks, the kind most Jonin might wear as their formal attire. It was rather humble of him, to be wearing all black like his teammates. Still, but he couldn't restrain a grimace when he saw that Naruto had deliberate selected an _orange _shirt with his black vest, in spite of their unanimous decision to wear nondescript clothing this night.

"Urusei." He couldn't keep the smile from his voice as he turned toward his newest teammate. "So you were awake this entire time, Hinata?"

"Ano... I couldn't sleep." She confessed with a small guilty blush; too adorable for words. "Could you?"

"Nope." Sasuke relented, raising his hands in weak offerment. "I was...looking forward to this." He neglected to mention that the village was under maritla law after the bombing. A terrifying event, it had left most of the plaza intact, but scared everyone witless. To make matters worse, the Tsuchikage, having arrived before the remaining Kage, had been present. Naturally, he would have been accused as the culprit, were he not the bomber's intended target, the suspected reason for the bombing. Not to mention that Naruto had been the one to hurl that first crucial bomb back into the air, saving countless lives at the risk of his own.

Sasuke felt his blood boil for a moment.

_'Naruto...just how strong are you going to get?'_

"Are you...alright?" Hinata noted the sudden wince in his eyes, to which Sasuke frowned.

"Truthfully?" He considered voicing his concerns for a moment. "I-

"Hey, hey we didn't come here to mope." Naruto slammed the lid down on their conversation. "We're nearly there."

Sasuke sighed aloud, to which Hinata scrubbed at an eye with the back of her hand, yawned. Naruto yawned immediately thereafter. Hinata giggled. Sasuke reached up to his forehead, adjusting the hitiate worn there. Hinata and Naruto, in a rare breech of character, had done the same, a silent gesture and request of camraderie. In the brisk early morning. Hinata's cheeks were flushed rosy red, and she looked even younger when she stole a glance toward her beloved.

"Ano...shouldn't we have more time for this, Naruto-kun?"

_"We should."_ Sasuke ravished his rival with a baleful glare. "Three hours ago."

"Mah, what's a few hours to us?" Naruto laughed nervously and shouldered his pack. "We have all night!"

"No we don't!" Sasuke jerked his head toward the already brightening horizon. "Its already morning!"

"We'll be fine!"

Naruto, oblivious to everything as always, laughed and clapped Sasuke on the back. Not gently. The Uchiha felt the air rush from his lungs for a moment before he recovered. Hinata watched the two of them and felt that damned rosy red blush coming on as frustration leached from Naruto's eyes. Oh Gods. Naruto-kun was looking at her again. Did he have any idea it was those eyes that held her so transfixed? That she'd do anything to ease his pain and make him feel better? Naruto smiled, and it was no longer as small and broken as it had been when she'd last seen him. Something had healed that terrible wound and and broken through that shroud of sadness.

"Naruto-kun?"

"AHA!" His reply was so loud that even Sasuke jumped. Hinata bumped into Naruto's back and Sasuke stumbled forward as the blond came to an abrupt halt. They'd been so busy discussing the bomb, that none of them, save for Naruto, had thought to wonder where they were going. Sasuke knew this place at once as Naruto unwound the chain from the gate and inserted the key. He ushed them in and swiftly kicked the grate shut behind him.

"We're here!" He was grinning; already a dozen shadow clones having poofed into existence."But first things first!" Handing each replication the clothes he had brought, Naruto bid them to transform into perfect replicas of Hinata and Sasuke, others he just let lie as they were. Sasuke, staring at one of the fakes, caught on almost immediately. Hinata, blushing at a stern faced bunshin disguised as her, wondered for a moment longer before she too, understood the boy's intentions.

_'So that's how it is._' Sasuke watched Naruo take one last clone and henge into a perfect copy of Kakashi. He bid it to stand watch at the gate, hell, it even had one of sensei's evil orange books to read while it waited! Within minutes, the clearing was speckled with multiple copies of Narutos' Hinatas' and Sasukes'. Slightly tired from his technique, raised a hand and instantly, all of his clones were at strict attention and awaiting orders.

"Disperse!" Naruto ordered, the now properly garbed clones each shooting off in a different direction to complete their task. Naruto had created roughly hundreds of them. _More _than enough to confuse any potential pursuers that might try to follow. Ingenious. Only Naruto would have enough chakra for something like this. Now, while the village tried to hunt down the fakes, they'd be perfectly safe to continue their training, away from any prying eyes.

The only problem being...he was unusually tired.

"Oi, you alright there?" Sasuke frowned.

"Eh? Gah! I almost fell asleep again! I'm awake! I'm awake!" Naruto smiled and shook himself as if casting off his weariness, and suddenly his face was animated and he was totally present with them in a way that was becoming rare. Sasuke blinked and Hinata alongside him as Naruto thrust his hand forward, palm down and facing the ground. After a moment of stupeficatiion they realized what the redhead was waiting for and blinked yet again.

"Well...?"

Sasuke frowned and as a result Hinata beat him to the punch. She was the next to place her hand in the circle, atop of Naruto's, blushing as he smiled at her lack of hesitation. Sasuke glowered as both his teammates turned toward him with expectant expressions. He refused to budge. What the hell was this? This wasn't some shitty kids club! This was real, live-or-die, kill-or-be-killed, actual, genuine violence, and they were treating it all like a game?

Sasuke folded his arms defiantly and blushed aside.

_'Bullshit. Absolute bullshit.' _

They looked at Sasuke with expectation.

"..."

Sasuke tsked.

_"Fine."_

He placed his hand atop Hinata's, who had in turn, placed her own over Naruto's. The newly reformed Team Seven stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity. They spoke volumes, but not a word was said between them. Conveyed in thos eyes of rippling violet, pearly lavender, and charcoal black, words were not needed. Through the most unlikliest of circumstances they'd come here as a team, not as representatives of their clan, _not _as Namikaze, Hyuuga, and Uchiha.

"We all know what to do, right?" Naruto had that mischevious glint in his eye again and for the first time, Sasuke found himself agreeing. "The exams start winding up in a week, and a week after that, that's when they officially begin." He looked at each of them appreciatively. "Therefore, starting tonight, we're not only going to train during the day, buuuuut-

"During the night, too?" Hinata interrupted with perplexed expression. "Ano...is that it?

"Precisely!" Naruto grinned. "There's a certain jutsu I want to teach you guys, one that you can't tell anyone about!" Sasuke and Hinata exchanged a glance, and shared the same thought. Naruto was going to teach _them _a jutsu? Well, miracles could happen, they supposed. Hinata showed only the slightest strain when she bobbed her head in agreement and Sasuke looked downright dubious, but he gave his consent as well, wondering what on earth _Naruto _could possibly teach _him_.

"And it has to be tonight because...?" Sasuke let the statement hang, unadorned, between them. "You're so insistent on it so why not tell us?"

"Nope." Naruto grinned mysteriously. "You'll have to figure it out for yourselves."

...Bastard." Sasuke hissed but there was no venom in his words.

"Great!" Naruto was smiling again. "So you guys brought everything, right?"

Sasuke indicated his pack with a stiff glance.

"...Right here."

Hinata glanced at the pouch on her shoulder.

...Ano...I found everything you asked for, Naruto-kun."

Each had experienced loss, and knew what it was to lose family. It couldn't be said that they were unaware, that they didn't know one another's pain. They knew all too well. These were the heirs to three of Konoha's most prestigous clans, and the owners of the most powerful doujutsu in existence. These three, because of their clans, had been burdened with responsibility no child should ever have to bear, and yonight, this responsibility was discarded, just for a little while.

Naruto Namikaze.

_'Bwah, I know I sounded cool and all but I have no idea if this'll actually work..._

Hinata Hyuuga.

_'I can do this...I think...No! Naruto-kun's watching me. I...I can do it..._

Uchiha Sasuke.

_'How did I get stuck with these two? Mah, I supposed it doesn't matter..._

Tonight they formed the core of the new and improved Team Seven.

"Yosh!" Naruto's exuberant personality came back with a loud shout of exhileration. "We've got a week to master this so lets get started!" He thrust his hand up in time with theirs, forcing Hinata and Sasuke to do the same. Tonight, and every night hereafter, they were teammates. Tonight, their training for the exams began. Tonight, a bond would be forged that would endure not only the test of time itself, but perhaps even the forces of darkness that sought to undo the ties that bound them together.

"Break!" Naruto declared, the shout echoing loudly across the training field, the very same field in which he had been tied to a log during the Bell Test. Kakashi, the _real _Kakashi Hatake glanced down upon his students from a well concealed perch in a nearby tree, and closed his book. He watched them for some time, and when the sun finally pierced the veil of the moon and the stars, when he was absolutely certain he was not alone, he turned to the mottled blur of red and white a few branches to his right.

"They're very enthusiastic, aren't they, Yuhi Kurenai?

"Blast it." An exasperated hiss answered. "You knew I was here, didn't you?"

"Perhaps," Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. "But I _am _fairly certain that's Asuma breathing in your ear up there, or am I wrong about that, too?"

"You need to stop doing that, Kakashi." A male voice assented. "Those "enthusiastic" students will see us if you don't keep quiet."

"Nope." Kakashi was already ignoring them. "I'm afraid their Will of Fire wouldn't allow them to acknowledge that."

"Hmm?" Kurenai frowned from her own perch in the branches, irked at being so easily discovered. "What makes you say that?" Kakashi glanced back to the clearing, the three having resumed despite a momentary respite from their intense training. Curious. It was already well past Eight o'clock and still they showed no signs of slowing. To think that Naruto had this much strength only a day after being released from the hospital, and the speed to outrun an entire squad of ANBU alongisde Hyuuga Hiashi himself...

"That's some student you have there." Asume muttered sullenly. "Almost as good as mine."

"The wind stokes the fire and pushes beyond its limits." Kakashi smiled through the mask as they gazed upon Sasuke."The wind caresses the water, yet it never disturbs what lies beneath." His gaze slipped upon Hinata, who should have long since passed her limits and was-admirably enough-forcing Naruto block her every blow. "And once the wind is gone, the water quells the fire and reminds it of its place in this world, leaving the wind to stir them up again and make them one and in of the same.

"She might not know it, but Hinata is the very reason those two are cooperating." Kakashi continued. "Naruto and Sasuke are fond of her. Naruto isn't aware of her feelings yet, but he may yet have feelings of his own. Haven't you seen them?" A simple inclination of the head was all he needed. "Sasuke sees Hinata as more of a younger sibling than any possible bride-to-be. He's quite protective of her too, perhaps because she's the only girl his age that acknowledged him out of skill, not affection."

"You mean to say their a perfect fit for each other?" This from Kurenai. "Now that you've cut out your "unreliable" weak link?"

"I don't follow." Kakashi could feel Kurenai glaring and knew that she sitll held some animosity for having Sakura dumped into Hinata's spot on the team. The girl would take well to Shino and Kiba true enough, but there would never be any doubt that her own teammates had abandoned her when she'd needed them the most. Sakura would be forced to carry that burden for the rest of her life, that she no longer had a place with these two.

It would be her burden as a shinobi.

"Both of you...calm down." Asuma's warning prevented the squabble from escalating. "We'll just see which of our teams make Chunin this year." Asume had a glint in his eye as he said this, almost as though he were certain a that certain Nara would easily make the cut. Kurenai meanwhile, looked slightly agitated by the suggestion, something Kakashi empathized with. But not enough to keep his tongue held, as he chuckled softly, this earning him a baleful glare from both Jonin.

"How about a little bet, then?"

Kakashi could _feel _Kurenai's displeasure from the lowest branch, but Asuma didn't mind, if his tone was anything to suggest.

"What exactly did you have in mind, Kakashi?"

"Well, I'd say-

"YOSH!" Kakashi turned his head upward as a green blur crashed through the branches with an utter lack of subtlty. "I expect no less of a challeng from my rival Kaka-_MMPH!" _Everyone simultaneously clamped a hand across the mouth of Konoha's self-titled "Master of Youthfulness" bid him be silent. Beneath their baleful glares he nodded, and only when nodded fervently from a dire lack of _oxygen_, was he released and finally allowed to breath.

"Ill-timed as ever, Gai." Asuma grumbled when Naruto spared a glance toward the branches, looked away, and shrugged. "Anyone else hiding up there that we should know about?" Surprisingly, a fifth and final blur of blacks and greys dropped down from the branches, landing squarely in the middle of the branche. Kakashi smiled that strange upside down U of an eye smile as a chorus of disbelieving hisses exploded around them.

"Ohayo, Zabuza-san."

"Kakashi." The new instated Jonin grunted, obviously uncomfortable in Konohagakure garb, as he'd torn the sleeves for his vest and jacket to shreds. In place of the Kubikiri Houcho, the former Demon of the Mist wore a pair of crisscrossed nodaichi across his back, and a daisho sword pair belted at his hip. Interestingly enough, he refused to give up the bandages that still wound their away for most of his lower visage.

Kakashi was the only one to respond with an immediate smile.

"I see Hokage-same approved your promotion?"

...Yeah." Zabuza muttered, looking as though he'd come flying out of his skin at any moment in the confining garments. "Apparently we're strapped for cash and shinobi after two of _your _jonin got them selves mangled in some tussle or something." His tone warmed considerably. "Come to think of it, their wounds aren't all that old. They're fresh. Hardly even a mark on them. Now, I wonder who might have enough of grudge to host them by the jewels in broad moonlight, hmm?"

"I-I see." Asuma wasn't paying any attention to the small war raging below them. "That is a bit of a...probem." There was not a doubt in their minds as to who might have done such a thing. Who else, would have the gall do commit such a crime? Gazing down upon his students, Kakashi could have sworn that Naruto smiled just then. But it was probably just a trick of the light, nothing more. After all, what possible motive could bring him to do such a thing?

Right?

"Y-You seem to be missing someone." Kurenai stuttered only slightly, comfirming the abscence of the girl who never seemed to leave Zabuza's side. "Is that girl here, too?" Now it was Zabuza's turn to smile the chill returning to his voice as he swiveled in place, smirking at everyone within thinly veiled contempt and satisfaction.

"She's busy training."

Gai nearly fell out of his tree.

"I see...so she's competing, then?"

Zabuza's smile was mirthless.

_"Naturally. _And she'll be the one to make Chunin, not those snot nosed genin you call shinobi." He let the silence stretched onward for what felt like an eternity. "Oh? Why the long face? Did I hurt your feelings, big boy?" Zabuza cackled darky and Gai frowned, irked by the insinuation that Haku was better than his entire team. Asuma and Kurenai were likewise displeased by Zabuza's unfaltering faith in his newly appointed apprentice.

"So its a bet then?" Kakashi spoke suddenly. "

"I say that _all three_ of my genin will make Chunin." Kakashi let the statement hang, unadorned, and felt the hate shift toward him. "What about you all?" Zabuza harumphed, his opinions already made known, but it was Asuma who ultimately found his voice before the others.

"Idiot!" The Sarutobi shook his head. "I could understand if Sasuke and Naruto passed, but-

"But you don't think Hinata will." Kakashi fixated upon Asuma with an unassuming stare. "Do you?" Kurenai said nothing, refusing to voice her shame. Gai was shaking his head, tsking softly, as though he knew something no one else did, and Kakashi didn't bother to ask him, either. It was sad really, to see how little faith they had in the girl. He was determined to do something about that, hence the overzealous bettings.

"Well?" He prodded. "I have complete faith in my subordinates."

"Shino." Kurenai sighed suddenly.

"Shikamaru." Asuma retorted proudly.

"Haku." Zabuza said it as though the answer were clear as day.

_"Each _of my youthful students will trounce yours, Gai bobbed his head in affirmation. "Kakashi!"

"And what if your team makes it to the finals?" Asuma inquired. "What happens if we lose?"

Kakashi smiled strangely.

"Why, then you'll have to train them for me, of course."

**"!"**

A frigid breeze swept across the clearing and in that moment, Kakashi opted to stand.

"You know, I'm proud of them." He smiled, un-pocketing his book, sliding the hitiate over his Sharingan and inclining his head deeply. "All three of them." He smiled, but again there was something not quite alright about it, something, resigned, almost. But it was gone now, as though it'd never been. Kakashi glanced over Kurenai and the others, smiled, and flicked his hands into a quick seal, a swift fareweel that had little to no meaning at atll.

"See you in a week."

And then he was gone in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

_(One week to the day)_

In that lone week leading up to the exams, Hinata Hyuuga learned what it truly was to _love _Uzumaki Naruto. Though his outward appearance and techniques had changed dramatically, Hinata realized that he was still very much the same exuberant and energetic boy he'd always been. Albeit taller and a great deal more handsome than before. Oftentimes he'd catch her staring, smile back with what she _swore _was a blush, and hurriedly jerk his gaze away.

It was never wise to look away during a spar, and Hinata knew something was wrong the instant she connected.

"Oof!"

Naruto grunted, the air leaving his lungs in a pained whoosh as one of Hinata's blows slipped through his guard and drilled into his sternum. He doubled, touched at his chest and blinked, his Rinnegan widening ever so slightly when the fingertips came away bloody. Hinata shrieked. Sasuke swung around from his own training, concern flaring across his visage as Hinata screamed, hands flying to her face in an attempt to stifle the hopeless gasp.

"Na-Naruto-kun! I'm so sorry!" She reached for him, and seemed to regret it as he trembled. "I-I'm...I'm...I'm so sorry!"

Then she touched his shoulder and recognized the trembles for what they were. _Naruto was laughing_. Sasuke frowned and Hinata blinked in the same instant that Naruto straightened, surprising even Kakashi-sensei with his boldness and prompting him to stop reading for the fourteenth time.

Naruto chuckled, prompting Sasuke to frown and Hinata to blink in the same instant.

_He was smiling._

"Oi, oi guys." He straightened abruptly, surprising everyone. "I'm not hurt at all, see?" At Sasuke's dubious snort, Naruto peeled off his sweat encrusted jacket to show them his so-called "wound" was actually not a wound at all. Hinata blinked, blushed, and tried _not _to blush as she beheld his rippling musculature. But the redhead was right, there was no wound to be found. Not even a shallow hole remained where Hinata's jutsu had pierced his clavicle.

And then...

...Naruto went poof.

"Kawirami!" Sasuke snarled, rounding in the same instant that Naruto appeared beside him, flicking two fingers in the "peace" sign. Then Naruto's boot snapped outward, crashing into the Uchiha with all the force of a small hurricane. Sasuke caught the blow on his wrist and was sent tumbling backwards in an uncontrolled skid. Naruto was already behind him, smirking and ready to greet Sasuke as he always had, with a devastating right hook to the face.

Sasuke spun around at the last instant, smirking with chakra-filled lungs.

Naruto cussed as a jet of flame gushed outward.

_"Katon!" _Sasuke grinned as Naruto swore at him. "Housenka!"

"HOT!" Naruto yelped skittering backwards and doding the fire bullets in a rather comical display. Either he allowed a few of the bolts to knick him or Sasuke truly had improved, because at the jutsu's end, Naruto was glowering at a smug Sasuke and patting himself to exinguish the smalle fires on his clothing. But then Naruto weaved a series of signs so fast that Sasuke hadn't the chance to scowl before the redhead had completed his technique.

_"Suiton." _Naruto commanded, drawing in a sudden breath, filling his lungs with chakra and oxygen. _"Mizurappa!" _

Hinata threw an arm before her face within a small squeal as the violent stream of water flowed from his lips and crashed into Sasuke, the deluging sweeping the Uchiha up and leaving him unharmed, but also sopping wet. Naruto, quite satisfied with his revenge, offered a hand to his arch rival. Sasuke glowered for a moment longer, before accepting it and allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. In a rare moment, the two smiled in a way that suggested their antics were about to continue...

Hinata watched the way in which they ranged across the field, constantly moving, never slowing, using every trick and tool in their arsenal to one-up the other. They were accustomed to fighting with full strength from the very beginning of their lives, and she could see the way in . The training field became one veritable blur of motion, as each of them constantly sought some uneven patch of ground or anything with which they could trump the other.

Naruto swore as Kakashi sensei held up the whistle, a signal for the change in pace, AND a flicker of motion in his peripheals.

"Wu-oh."

Hinata launched herself forward and struck steel. Naruto stuck out his tongue from behind the massive iron blade that was his Kubikiri Houcho, Rinnegan narrowing mischeviously. Hinata lurched back in as he swung himself upon it and arched himself into the air. Hinata watched her beloved pivot off the handle, his leg crackling outward in a violent blur of electric blue. He slowed an instant before the blow would have broken, and suddenly the whistle was blown again.

"Again!" Kakashi called, instructing them to move on to the next portion of the training.

Naruto was already moving, Kubikiri Hochou smacking into his palm even as he brought the arm down. Hinata was rewarded with a black and condemnatory oath. Sasuke drew back with a small smile as their new opponent leapt into the fray and toward the descending blade. At the same time the blade fell, Sasuke snatched up a shuriken and hurled it toward the onrushing Hyuuga. Seconds later he realized his mistake, the ground bulging beneath him as the water clone nearly took his head off with a kunai of its own.

Hinata was rising just as suddenly, dodging under the throwing star and blurring toward Naruto even as Sasuke dispensed with her clone.

She swiftly delivered a light slap across his chest, slowing him for the briefest of moments. In that brief lapse of confusion, she had enough time to curl a leg around the handle of the blade. Puzzled by such a strange and sensual display, Naruto blinked just before Hinata kicked off his chest, launching him across the field and his blade in the opposite direction. Hinata hadn't the time to apologize for tossing him into a tree, Naruto had already dropped the blade and now he'd assumed a stance.

Naruto dropped the kunai and smirked, to which Hinata swung around to slap Sasuke's hand aside. He didn't slow, following the failed strike through with spinning roundhouse kick that forced Hinata back, back toward Naruto, the Namikaze having assumed a stance of his own. From there, the world dissolved into a wild and mindless blur. Hinata fended the boys off rather admirably, and even put in her fair share of bruises before it became apparent that she was being overwhelmed.

She understood what they were trying to do.

In that lone week leading up to the exams, Hinata Hyuuga learned what it truly was to _understand _Uchiha Sasuke. Ironically, he wasn't that different from Naruto. Like Naruto, he had a dream, and he too, was determined to make that dream a reality. Naruto seemed to have some part in that, though as to just what his part was, Hinata hadn't the foggies. Still, in that week, Hinata Hyuuga realized that the Uchiha prodigy was actually quite approachable whereas training and advice were involved.

Whenever she asked him for assistance with her training, Sasuke dropped everything, no matter how complex, and assisted. He did this for Hinata, and Hinata lone. She often wondered why, but this was a would promptly drop whatever it was that he was doing, and assist. Perhps was with them, she felt a strange warmth and comfort; the same peace her mother had left her with just before dying in childbirth. If Naruto was her crush, than Uchiha Sasuke was the older brother Hinata had never had. The Uchiha didn't care that Hinata did not faint or fawn over him like the others girls, he welcomed this neutrality.

There was no spite in his blows when he struck. No malice in his chakra when he spewed flames toward her. Her teammates were simple, and they were honest. If anything were to perturb or distrub her, Naruto and or Sasuke would immediately be there to defend. Perhaps they understood. Sasuke had lost his parents and watched his brother murder the clan. Naruto had only recently learned of his lineage, but his family had passed on long, _long _before he even knew Sasuke.

Both, were the last of their clan, and almost constantly harassed as a result. Hinata shared that regret. She'd lived with that regret ever since she'd lost her mother. There was no regret now, there was simply no time for it, and she basked in the blur of thier blows, the coldness of her father's stare leaving her, fading into a warmth that she only felt whenever she was with her friends. Confident and maybe just a little arrogant, they were proud, but in all the right ways and none of the bad.

They were well-coordinated, confident in their teamwork, and ridiculously strong. Hinata fended them off, knowing that they were restricting her to close combat, know that this was precisely what they wanted her to do, to defend and attack at the same time. Hinata was constantly moving, and so were Naruto and Sauke, deflecting the crane strike that grazed an ear or cheek in the same instant she batted aside a hard punch screaming inward from below.

Hinata spun.

No, it wasn't quite a spin, more of a...roatation. Chakra rushing from her every pore in an instant, rearing up to slap Naruto and Sasuke in the face. Both boys went down. Hard. Sasuke was the first to stand, and Naruto soon thereafter, surprise plastered across their faces, then amusement, then exhileration. Hinata was left to catch her breath for a moment, before the twin streaks of dark blur and black exploded toward her, forcing her into another intricate weaving of strikes and counterstrikes.

In that week, Hinata told no one of her rigorous training. Survival exercises and combat drills were top-secret in Team Kakashi. They worked from dawn till dusk, rested, and were back at it again at the next light. No one was to know of this, the intense physical and pyschological training the three were made to endure. Within that week her life was pure bliss. She trained and trained and trained and each time she was praised for her effort, not chastised for her failures.

In that lone week leading up to the exams, Hinata knew what it truly was to have friends. Naruto and Sasuke were always there in a way that Kiba and Shino never were. Both were fiercely protective of her, to the point of aggression and although Hinata had to return to the Hyuuga Compound at the end of each day, one of them would always set aside time to walk her home. More and more often that someone was Namikaze Naruto, and more and more often their talks became longer their friendship stronger deeper, the smiles more and more genuine.

Hinata was falling in love.

She heard little of her old team during that last week, as missions were suspended in preparation for the exams. Apparently, Sakura-san had adapted to Kurenai's tutelage well, which was a relief for Hinata, havign been the one to oust her from her original spot in Team Seven. And so today, they arrived on the final day, the day before the Chunin Exams. Today would be their last practice session and seeing as tomorrow was the Exam itself, they would spend the night with Kakashi sensei for a final test run of their combination jutsu.

If they passed the exam, this might be the very last time the three of them sparred. Kakashi-sensei insisted that it was to build up stamina, but Hinata had the strongest suspicion that it was to better correlate their that they needed it. On the field and off, they were quickly becoming fast friends. to tear each other's throats out half the time, but it was all an act. The new Team Seven was stronger than ever and it was place in which Hinata shone brighter than any star, right beside her teammates.

Rinnegan and Byakugan and Sharingan darted this way and that, constantly seeking any weakness to exploit. But Hinata pushed them back. She watched surprise flicker across Sasuke's face when a slipstream of water splashed across his face, forcing him to close his eyes. In that instant Hinata struck him across the arms, disabling his chakra in the left and right in an instant. Naruto laughed and then it was he was forced to retreat, whilst Sasuke tried to reclaim the feeling in his limbs.

"Bleh!" The Namikaze teased, skipping backwardly gracefully. "You can do better than that Hinata! I know you can!" Hinata hadn't the time for words. Sasuke had used this as a chance to recover and the world became that narrow tunnel of intense focus as she blocked and parried and returned fire of her own. Naruto might have been able to brush away the water when she flung it at him, but his grace was not that of Sasuke's, and the Uchiha was growing annoyed with the light patter of mist that constantly sprayed into his eyes.

Hinata giggled.

She _giggled _and retreating, using the damp dew on the grass to trip the boys up, to humurously entangle them in one another. Naruto and Sasuke came up with a simultaneous curse and Hinata gave a laugh as they lunged, perhaps even faster than before. Naruto was careful to block anything that came near Sasuke now, and the Uchiha the same for the Namikaze. Hinata hated this strategy. First, it not only forced her to extend her reach, but Naruto and Sasuke were almost indentical in lenth and stride, making it all but impossible not to fall under a genjutsu during the battle. Especially when a battle like was this was being fought, when they synced up in the manner, and always ended it in her defeat.

Hence the reason they used such perplexing taijutsu.

Sasuke welcomed the way in which Hinata attacked him, and Hinata he. This was not to say that the sparring sessions were anything less than painful. Naruto and Sasuke weren't known to pull many, if any,of their blows. Naruto wouldn't hit Hinata as he did Sasuke, but even when he was holding back, Hinata had bruises. In contrast, Sasuke was surprisingly gentle with her. He refused to resort to using and of his Sharingan techniques, insisting that he needn't rely upon his bloodline to win a match.

They were so much stronger now that _she _was strong enough to force them into their bloodline activation.

Stronger than she could ever hope to be.

And then Sasuke broke away, leaving her and Naruto alone in their intricate dance of blows. Hinata hardly even noticed and there was surely a good reason. Naruto was smiling. Hinata smiled too, the blows falling closer and closer together as they weaved around the field, constantly seeking an advantage, nearly cheek to cheek. Hinata matched him strike for strike, her own strikes ringing loud and sharp in sharp contrast to his own, never more than a few centimeters off their mark. Tighter and tighter, they weaved through their dance together, constantly moving, shifting, sliding, backpedalling and all the while in an ever increasing rhythym until there was noting but the two of them and the perfect timing of each strike and-

"Ow!" Naruto yelped suddenly and with blinked, and Hinata blushed, as they shared the same thought in that instant and headbutted one another. But Hinata had been wearing her hadband, and she'd already knocked Naruto's clear off his face during the battle. As such, Naruto reeled, and even the Rinnegan couldn't protext him from dizziness. Sasuke watched him stumble, watched he blink, a small smile adjourning his features when they collapsed against each other out of exhaustion.

They didn't separate. Rather, Naruto didn't. He resisted, almost nuzzling his cheek against hers for the briefest of small moments. It was an awkward and not-quite perfected display, their foreheads resting upo one anothers as they struggled recover, unmoving. The sound of clapping broke them from one another, half lidded eyes flying wide with surprise. Hinata squeaked as though she'd been pinched, hard. Very, _very _hard.

Naruto flushed too, but for different reasons, voices and footsteps were detected on the other side of the clearing.

_Damn but he was fast._

Hinata didn't even realize they'd been wearing weights until she saw one on Naruto's arm, and another on Sasuke's exposed shoulder. She only knew they were weights because she hadn't harmed a single hair on their heads wherever the obscenely thick material lay. She could see Naruto's weights on either arm, having accidentally torn his sleeve during practice. Now, staring at those tappered segments of weights labeled with a kanji for "Guts" and determination, Hinata had a thought. They'd been that fast with that much weight attached? Kami! If Naruto and Sasuke ever took their weights off, just how fast would they be then...

"I'm proud of you."

The deep tone of sensei's voice plucked Hinata from her thoughts.

"All three of you." Kakashi lowered his hitiate, shading his Sharingan once more. "Well done.

"Tomorrow morning, the three of you will take the Chunin Exam." Kakashi announced. "I'm sure Naruto already knew, but I wanted to clear the air between you two. If you have any regrest, if any of you don't want to take the exam, if you have any regrets at all, now's the time to speak up." Hinata vehemently shook her head, and Naruto laughed. He laughed, and then Sasuke was laughing, and Hinata realized she was giggling with them, and Kakashi-sensei was looking at them as though all three were crazy.

"You'll do it then?" He awaited their reply. "Each of you?"

"Sensei," Naruto was still chuckling. "You have to understand, we're a team!" He grinned at Hinata and though she blushed, there was no surge of dizziness anymore. She'd long since overcome that in her training, though she still grapled with her feelings for the former blond. Sasuke smirked as though his answer were the most obvious in the world. Hinata found herself ferverishly bobbing her head, yet another of the outward displays of emotion she'd shown recently.

"Sensei...I'll do it. Because...Because its what I want to do, not just for th-the village, but for myself-" She paushed, flushing as Kakashi mussed her hair affectionately. Sasuke chuckled again and tried to smooth it only for Naruto to beat him too it, leaving the Uchiha's hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"Come on, did you really think we'd say no?"

Hinata flushed crimson as Naruto and Sasuke came to stand beside her, no longer keeping the distance they had before. Kakashi seemed to notice this and smiled, raising a fist, thumb upward to each of them; his three pupils staring in abject disbelief. Three small objects were flicked toward them. Naruto snapped a fist outward and caught the first. Sasuke snatched the second out of the air, and it was Hinata who raised her hands, palms outward, to receive the final trinket.

There were three bells, one for each of them.

"Congratulations." A gentle breeze blew through the field, revealing a series of craters and huge tears in the earth. "The three of you are now officially the new Team Kakashi."

Naruto folded both arms behind his head and grinned as they left the ruined field behind them.

"Told you he'd give us something."

And the day and night were blur.

_(Day of the exam)_

This was turning out to be a very, veyr bad day.

Naruto frowned, glaring at the scene unfolding below him. He'd been asked to see Hanabi off to the academy by Hinata, since she and Sasuke would be meeting him at the entrance. Unfortunately, he had not forseen Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon creating this...problem that lay before him. Said problem being a Suna genin calling Konoha Genin weak. Said problem being that said Suna genin dared to lay hands on Hinata's little sister while Naruto just so happened to be hanging upside down from a tree.

It sure as hell didn't help that the Konohamaru Corps. had run away during all the fracus.

_'So they think Konoha genin are weak...do they?'_

Sasuke already had a kunai out when Naruto spoke.

"Yo, I'd put her down if I were you."

"And if I-

Strong arms seized around her and Hanabi was rising as the world shattered around them. Cold air greeted her as she tumbled from the boy's grip and escaped into the open air. Hinata scooped her little sister up and turned aside, in the exact instant that Naruto unsheathed Kubikiri Houcho and hurled it directly toward the rookie genin of Sunagakura known simply as Kankuro. There was a spurt of blood and a rending of bone and Kankuro dropped like the pebble Sasuke had just hurled.

Then he screamed. Clutching the severed stump that had been his right hand. The blond kunoichi at his side gapwed at the bloody blade and the equally bloodied redhead, and couldn't seem to decide which was the more dangerous of the two, the Uchiha, or the Namikaze bearing a small arsenal. In that instant Naruto swung his arms forward, twin jets of pressure bursting from his palm in the same instant as he dropped to the street.

One slammed into Kankuro and knocked him off his feet. Sasuke was already appearing behind Temari, cracking the back his handinto her jaw at the same instant that Naruto brought the blade along the street for a second strike, only hoping to throw his attackers off balance so he could slip between them. But once again his power was there like a coiled viper and he was suddenly stronger than he'd ever been. The two Suna siblings blew forward and crunched together, meeting along the blade of Kubikiri Houcho.

If Naruto so much as turned the blade he could have gutted them, even through the folded cloth that distinguished them as shinobi. Instead, he dropped the sword -how had he done it that fast- he was still falling backward from throwing his assailant harder than intended, and the blade was already wedged into the street. Turning his fall into a back handspring was child's play, and they weren't prepared as the soil suddenly swept around beneath their feet in a roiling cloud of sand.

Just like that, their assault ended.

Naruto raised a hand, deflecting the sand as it roiled past them and into the streets, taking on human form. A ways behind them he could hear the other teams approaching the main entrance, but his attention remained riveted on the redhead before him. So the same was with the gourd bearing boy who eyed Naruto with a quizzical and stern frown. He eyed the twitching hand at his feet, kicked it back towards his squirming elder brother.

"Kankuro." A grating sigh escaped his lips. "You had that coming."

"S-Sorry...Gaara." Kankuro was ushered inside by his sister, and Hinata frowned in sympathy, still holding her quivering sister tight.

"Gaara?" Naruto frowned. "That's...a rather unpleasant name."

The boy known as Gaara turned toward them.

"You three." He spoke slowly. "I would also like to know yours," His gaze slid behind them were a small crowd was still approaching the main gates required for the opening ceremonies. "Preferably before those trash arrice and interrupt me."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

"Namikaze Naruto."

"Hinata Hyuuga."

"I see," Gaara inclined his head, respectfully. "I find myself hoping to fight you three. Especially," Naruto edged forward a bit as Gaara's expression became a small, albeit slightly unnerving smile."The one that has the same kind of monster inside him that I too posess." Naruto frowned as the Kyuubi cracked open a slitted iris and chuckled darkly in its cage. The same monster, as me? He frowned, a black expression that bespoke of nothing but disdain, hinting at some other motive.

"Well, those trash, came all the way here to see the three of us." In all of an instant, Naruto and Sasuke had maybe a dozen or so Anbu encircling them. Gaara made a sound somewhat akin to cold amusement and dissolved into sand, vanishing on the breeze as the Anbu tried to understand what they'd just seen. Naruto exhaled softly, shaking his head in sheer disbelief at his momentary slip and how it might affect the course of this exam.

It didn't help that the Kage wanted to meet Konoha's three prodigies befoe the exams even began.

"Shall we, then?"

He turned toward the doors and away from the crowd of onlookers.

"I think its high time the three of us met the competition."

* * *

**A/N: ENTER THE KAGES'! Bwah so many reviews! As to Sasuke's gender I'm making it ambigous for now based on the poll because some of ya'll apparently voted for a female Sasuke in the harem or something in that order XD Anywho,****I wanted to make everything as genuine as possible according to everyone's personality and what-not, but several characters really shone in this chapter moreso than other's as you'll soon find out in the Chunin Exams..., as do a few other notable characters. **

**Oh, and remember there IS a poll, and that poll will ultimately determine who will be in the harem; it'll be a sizeable amount, but nothing too extreme. **

_**CHUNIN EXAMS AND FOREST OF DEATH START IN THE NEXT CHAPTER AND WE GET TO MEET EVERYONE IN THE EXAAAAAAMS! STAY TUNED XD**_


	5. Devastation and Reform

**A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! I WORKED MY ASS OFF ON THIS CHAPTER! ASSKICKING! DRAMA! ACTION! FLUFF! EPICNESS! YOU WILL FIND IT HERE!_I'm so glad all of you are enjoying the effort I'm putting into this story! __Alright, since this is the fourth chapter, so lets get down to business shall we? First, sorry for the typo in the last chappy. I had meant to say that. Naruto was GONE for three weeks, meaning he arrived the day that Sarutobi was to have the meeting. Hence the three weeks bit, detailing how long he'd been GONE with the clones entering the village only shortly before the original arrived. Also this story WILL be a bit different from the canon/manga/anime in certain aspects as expected, and I promised you'll love what I have in store for Naruto and the gang. If any of you think Naruto or anyone is being just a little OOC in this chapter(or any others) remember, Naruto has the Rinnegan, Sasuke got the Mangekyo, and Naruto just promised to help Sasuke KILL HIS BROTHER. Now Hinata is on their team. Yeah, I just put three of THE most powerful doujtutsu in EXISTENCE on a team._**

**_People WILL die in this fic, both good and bad. I promise you'll be surprised._**

**_'Nuff said._**

**_Now without further adue...Q&A Time!_**

**_Q: How will Naruto react to the girls in this fic? A: Listen closely. I have had it up to HERE with "complaints" about his behavior so I will explain it here and now! FIRST! Naruto wants peace yes, but when the village or any of his precious people are threatened he isn't going to stand for it by any means, hence the chopping of Kankuro's arm because Hanabi was in danger. SECOND! Naruto is using his brain, damnit! His personality is edgier, true, but after the bridge scene I mean really? Come on! The guy has a MONSTER sealed in his stomach for crying out loud and the whole bridge demolishing was done, and UNDONE so stop it about that those who complained! THIRD! Naruto is trying his best not to act on his immediate urge to go nuclear on everyone who ever hurt him, which is why he's suddenly pissed whenever someone goes after/embarasses Hinata or any of those precious to him. GOOD GOSH ALMIGHTY!_**

**_Q: WTF is Sasuke a girl or not? A: First off no more WTF's this is a WTF story after all. Secondly, that depends on the POLL. You want it, vote. You don't, tell me why not if you'd like. I am always happy to hear the people's opinion It is still debatable._**

**_Q: WTF are they so powerful you overdid it, why why why? A: Again, ridiculously obvious. RINNEGAN OWNS. Nagato beat the crap out of a chunin when he was a kid and an untrained kid at that, or do you not remember? The Rinnegan is godly, but it doesn't make Naruto invincible. Just hella strong. Ahem, for Sasuke's Mangekyo, duh, Naruto's in the know. Why else would he willingly keep his promise to help Sasuke kill Itachi? And yes, Hinata has HEARD about what the Mangekyo does to an Uchiha, but she's kept silent because she doesn't want to offend her teammates. Also, Naruto trained with them under a FULL WEEK OF KAKASHI TRAINING, or did you not notice that either, those who dared flame this fic? _**

**_Q: What is wrong with the skips in time A: Nothing. The scenes transition just fine, for example this chapter picks up DIRECTLY after Naruto and co. enter the building and start up the stairs to meet a certain spandex clad genin... I'll try to make a better transisiton for P.O.V. for some characters, but I'm really confused by the few flames I've received HEAVILY criticizing this, I believed a certain anonymous reviewer who was deleted called it "lack of ability"? You have a problem with it? TELL ME._**

**_Q: Will Naruto have the powers of the Six Paths? A: Obviously, but there will be a drawback, a limit of some sort that I have yet to devise..._**

**_Q: Why didn't the Tsuchikage have any bodyguards when he was attacked? A: Cripes, I thought it was obvious! HE DID! He wanted to see what Naruto was capable of, but things, as you saw, got a bit...excessive. That "drunkard" routine he played through was an act to draw Naruto out and see his abilities._**

**_Q: Will Orochimaru still go after Sasuke, and if so will he win? A: Sorry, I cannot divulge that just yet. READ THE CHAPTER!_**

_**Putting those handful of haters aside, I hope you all enjoy all the wonderful emotion and drama I've eked out in this chapter and will continue to pour out into every chapter! I've been told that this is my best work yet, and frankly that may be true. Who knows? But this ficlet is still alive and kicking after all the wonderfully rave reviews you've given me**__**. Again, I'm just so glad all of you are enjoying reading this as I am writing all of it b**__**ut enough of all this blah-blah-BLAH! **_

_**Let's get started, Dattebayo!  
**_

**_(Devastation and Reform)_**

"Genjutsu?"

Hinata announced this with a startling clarity, invoking an amused glance from both Naruto and Sasuke. Ascending the stairwell, Hinata had left her Byakugan activated, just as Naruto and Sasuke had taken to leaving their own dojutsu always activate as well. It was one thing to be said for Naruto, who found himself nearly incapable of turning of his own powers, but for Sasuke, to willingly maintain the very eyes which pained him...

She'd wanted to be a bit more like them.

And so, as they cleared the final stair, Hinata basked in the warmth of her teammates' approval. She blushed, as they beheld the sudden crowd barring their path. Sasuke mussed her hair gently when Naruto didn't say anything at first, another of his brotherly signs of affection while no one could notice. Hinata blushed as the Uchiha silently congratulated her achievement, something that even they'd take a few moments to notice, and she giggled softly as Sasuke quickly retracted his hand and spun around so Naruto couldn't see said flicker of uncharacteristic kindness.

"Good job." Naruto finally turned, sparing Hinata a half glance and charming grin for which she lived and breathed. "Hinata-chan."

Hinata flushed scarlet and Sasuke mentally facepalmed at his partner's density.

_'Idiot.'_

"Eh? You say something, Sasuke?"

"I...I mean honestly." Sasuke sputtered sullenly, prompting a sincere smile from Hinata, and a glance from Naruto. "Did they really think this would-

"Apparently." The redhead offered a small sigh as they pushed forward to the forefront of the crowd. They saw a young boy in green spandex being pushed around by two less than pleasant looking shinobi, both of whom also looked to be genin. Hinata's small gasp of surprise abruptly dispelled such a thought. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance, disdain flickering through their faces as those few in their path made way for Team Seven.

"Henge?" Sasuke voiced silently.

"Apparently." Naruto repeated, using this opportunity to perform a one handed seal, the likes of which Sasuke saw, and snapped his eyes shut against. Hinata mirrored this action, but she did not fail to notice the same seal being formed by Sasuke. Seconds later, she felt the first prickling, tickling sensation against the back of her neck. Only then did Hinata open her eyes. Only then did she realize what Naruto _and _Sasuke had done to indignantly _paralyze _the entire assembly, not at all with their chakra, but with something much, much more horrifying.

_Killing Intent._

"Undo this illusionary technique." Naruto creaked open an eye, regarding the two boys guarding the door. "Scum. Did you really think we'd be fooled by such a thing?" Beside him, Sasuke leveled a less than pleasant scowl upon the sign, which immediately reverted to 201 revealing that all of the candidates were, indeed, on the second floor as he'd said. Both shinobi gawped, first at the Uchiha, then the Namikaze, and finally, each other, finally deciding they were less than pleased by their abrupt cancellation of their technique.

"You saw through it, _huh?"_

Hinata didn't need her Byakugan to see through their false bravado, and she certainly didn't need her bloodline to be aware of the dark stain upon one boy's otherwise brightly colored pants. Hinata nearly laughed aloud before she managed to clamp down on the rising amusement. The boy had wet himself, and his companion looked downright green, as if he were about to puke. Evidently Naruto and Sasuke thought the same, for their expressions held nothing less than outright scorn and disdain for the two shinobi that'd so recently barred the path of Team Seven.

But _they _made no effort to hide their amusement.

"Cheeky little punks!" His tone cracked across glass, and Hinata had the strongest suspicion that it wasn't just from the henge. Nor were any of the baleful glares, she realized. The other candidates, those who'd come here with the thought that it'd been the third floor, they were all staring at the Naruto and Sasuke within a strange mixture of fear and revulsion. Or perhaps it was the fact that the three most prestigous clans in Konoha were making such fools out of the so-called "common folk" as their ancestors often had.

"How did you see through it, eh?"

Hinata couldn't be sure which was the case.

"No." Sasuke shook his head and suddenly he was smiling softly at Hinata, the first smile that had reached his eyes in the last month. Hinata felt her heart slam against her chest, and it was not at all from any affection toward the Uchiha. It was just...that had to be the first time Sasuke smiled since...the incident. If Uchiha Sasuke was at all aware of the murderous glares locked upon him or Hinata, than he was even more naive when it came to women, thatn Naruto-kun.

_"She did."_

Apparently not, as with Naruto's statement, all eyes fell upon Hinata.

"Her?" The rippling of rumors and whispers abruptly ran amok again. "Isn't she Hiashi's...

"Sh! She'll hear you!"

"But I thought she wasn't taking this exam! She's supposed to suck!"

"So what if she does or doesn't! Do you really want to-

"YO!" Naruto put an end to the disheartening whisperers with a sudden rippling of pressure. His Almighty Push trickled outward, and gave everyone a gentle nudge of warning. Hinata felt only a gentle breeze, and Sasuke didn't even look at all perturbed as they observed the congregation edge back half-a-pace or so, nudged southwards on the balls of their feet. Naruto leered at everyone who dare meet his gaze, and most who did were quick to glance askance and mutter something unpleasant.

The Namikaze didn't take kindly to that.

"I want every single one of you, ladies and gentlemen, to apologize to Hinata-chan, this very instant." Naruto's tone brooked no argument. It was just blind luck that Sasuke's shoulder blocked Hinata from Naruto's face; because she could see the others shiver and twitch as it passed over them. The tongue of flames extruding from Naruto briefly became visible, roughening what little she could see of him from her obscured view features as his aura became completely red and menacing. And to Hinata's relief, a chorus of muted apologies answered this chakra, causing it to die almost immediately after being emitted in full view of the populace.

_'Th-This chakra..._

Naruto turned, and abruptly, whatever had been done to him, was undone. Thankfully, Hinata had deactivated her Byakugan, and Sasuke seemed to have taken this as a cue to let his Mangekyo fade back into charcoal black as he looked a great deal relieved now that the incident or whatever it might have become, was now over. Neither said a word, though the glance exchanged clearly wasn't at all hostile, Hinata still felt the undeniable urge to break the tension between the two before anything became any worse than it already was.

"Ano...shouldn't we be going?"

Naruto and Sasuke immediately lost that ill look in their eyes.

"Shit, I totally forgot." Naruto mumbled weakly, the anger leaching from his expression. "We still have to register don't we?"

"It... might have slipped my mind." Sasuke wore a light blush of his own, reprimanded.

Hinata found herself marching forward, pulling them by the hands when neither acquiesced to make the first move, leading the way to the stairwell. Thankfully that placed them both _behind her_, and left both Uchiha and Namikaze oblivious to the furious rosy red blush adjourning the features of thieir precious Hyuuga teammate. Hinata was ridiculously thankful for their confusion and their stumbling but insistent protests as she determinedly dragged them away from the baffled populace, careful to keep her head down and watch where she was going lest she encounter-

"Hey, you three."

Hinata froze.

"Identify yourselves."

**_Ba-dump._**

Hinata stiffened visibly, hands falling slack as an all-too-familiar voice called out at their backs. Inadvertently this cost her the hold upon their hands. Freed, Naruto and Sasuke blinked, no longer willing to be dragged a single step further before they met the mysterious speaker who had called out to them. Hinata didn't dare turn to face the voice; she knew exactly who it was. She knew what awaited her should she turn towards him, despite having grown her hair out to her shoulders, despite the small growth spurt she'd acquired over the weeks, despite many thing, it would all be for nothing if he broke her apart here and now, before her comrades.

"You're supposed to identify yourself before you ask." Naruto chastised, but like Sasuke, didn't budge.

Naruto and Sasuke refused to turn.

"You're all rookies, aren't you?" They were being baited. "How old are you?"

"We're not obligated to answer." This from Sasuke. "How about you give us your stats first, hmm?"

"Hyuuga Neji." The crisp, clear tone pierced through them and struck Hinata, deeper than any blade. "You there, woman. Identify yourself."

Hinata shook her head, knowing she would still be easily recognized.

"You're bothering us." Sasuke warned, his face still unseen. "Beat it, _has-been."_

"I should say the same to you, _never-was."_

Hinata didn't have to see their faces to know what they were thinking.

"So that's how it is, huh?"

Naruto made a small sound of inquiry, and turned toward the sound. Sasuke turned with him, and Hinata nearly shrank back as she beheld the stern visage of a Hyuuga. To make matters worse, said Hyuuga just so happened to be none other than her cousin; Hyuuga Neji. Whatever he had been about to say died on his lips the moment he recognized the heiress. Once, Hinata would've felt entirely cornered by such a visage, but suddenly, her concern for Naruto and Sasuke outweighed her fears.

"H-Hello...Neji-nii-san."

"Hinata-sama." Was the brisk reply. "I...was unaware that you would be taking part in this exam."

"Is that a problem?" Hinata couldn't believe it, but her voice had just _hardened_. "Neji-nii-san?"

Neji's face was a mask. Intense, but not furious. The kunoichi beside him offered a sheepish sigh, scratching at one of the buns in her hair. Hesitant to interrupt the ensuing standoff between the two Hyuuga, Naruto and Sasuke remained silent, but Hinata could still faintly feel the waves of killer intent coming from her teammates.

"I do not...have a problem with it," the stone-eyed Branch member announced in a voice that made Hinata's insides twist. She concentrated on the sudden spike of anger that came from the boys. She would see it through with them, or not at all. As their teammate, friend, or even a Chuunin-to-be glaring down her superior cousin… where they lead, she would follow… watching their backs.

"Are you done trying to make a fool of our comrade?" Sasuke jerked his head upright and someone shifted forward as his Mangekyo Sharingan snapped back into focus. Hinata felt a swift rush of wind as Kubikiri Houcho levered itself forward. Neji stiffened, finding his chin upon the tip of the massive cleaver, and a kunai to his throat as Naruto and Sasuke stepped around Hinata, taking a defensive position on either side of their ally. Naruto's venomous expression spoke volumes as his chakra surged outward, splintering the floor at their feet and warning of what might happen should Neji not release his grip from Hinata's wrist.

"Hands off of her, asshole."

If the Branch member was at all surprised by the sudden revelation that Hinata being swapped for Sakura, he did little to show it. That came as no surprise. No one, save for the ANBU had been given express permission regarding the sudden mix up in teams. Save for a brief tensing of the jawline, Neji didn't even register the changed appearance of the not-quite-so-meek Hyuuga that'd once been a blushing, stammering mess whenever Namikaze Naruto was within shouting distance.

"Now." Naruto announced. "I may hate senseless bloodshed, but I'll make an exception for you if don't-

His back arched in the same instant that Neji's heel shot toward his face. They never connected. For a bright flash of green appeared between them one hand locking upon Naruto's wrist, and a knee raised to stop Neji from dealing any sort of counter. Sasuke blinked, eyes flying wide, then narrowing furiously as he'd failed to notice the sudden movement. Apparently Hinata hadn't seen him either, as the disbelieving expression plastered across her face would suggest.

_'He stopped them?'_

Naruto unclasped his hand and allowed himself to be released. Neji flung himself backward. Naruto eyed the intruder with open curiosity. Neji _glared _balefully at who'd interrupted their duel, irritation evident in those translucent slits as they narrowed dangerously. Straightening, the two genin had been separated by a boy who looked a great deal like Maito Gai. Albeit lacking the vest and some of the jonin's more...outlandish features.

Neji wasn't at all pleased by this interruption.

"That wasn't necessary...Lee."

_"Lee?"_Naruto perked up at the mention of the name. "You wouldn't happen to be _Rock Lee_by any chance, would you?" He could feel the eyes burning into his back. Sasuke's from direct agitation that Naruto somehow knew this "unique" genin, whereas Hinata's was one of open disbelief. Neji was just furious, but the aforementioned genius fell to the wayside as the strangely clad lad turned his full attention upon the fully armed redhead that had inquired of him.

"Sorry...but who are you?" Instead of Rock Lee, it was the kunoichi who had spoken. Ah. They'd all but forgotten about her. Naruto struggled to remember her name and even then, it only came to him after great difficulty. She was a slim little thing, brunette, chestnut brown eyes, and garbed in Chinese fashion. Her stare was practically riveted to Naruto, or rather, the huge cleaver he currently held within his right hand, heck, she was practically transfixed by the thing!

"Tenten-chan...right?" Naruto ventured, sincerely hoping he'd spoken correctly. He didn't remember much when it came to Iruka-sensei's lectures, but Naruto _did _know that most females preferred to be called by their first name. Also, as Kakashi-sensei strictly reminded him, it was absolutely _vital _to use the "chan" suffix when trying to make an impression. Naruto didn't much see the point in it, but hey, if she'd taken an interest in his sword, what harm could it possibly do him?

-your name, then?

Naruto abruptly realized the kunoichi was speaking to him.

"Oh!" He forced a laugh. "The name's Namikaze! Namikaze Naruto!" Naruto watched the reaction wash over Team Nine and wipe their faces clean. It had the added benefit of pissing of Hinata's cousin even further. _Good._Though Naruto wanted nothing more than peace, this guy and his amused little smirk made Naruto's knuckles itch. But now was not the time to scratch them on his way-too-pretty-to-be-a-guy face, no matter how much it might satisfy him.

"Namikaze?"

"Yeah, that would be me-

Naruto felt the weight of the Byakugan settling on his back as he turned, but his attention had fallen upon the speaker, not the watcher. And though Tenten was visibly awed by this title of his, it was ultimately Rock Lee who finally decided to speak his piece. And a piece it was. Naruto's hand snapped outward as a fist nearly crashed into his face, eliciting a startled yelp from both parties. Much too late, he registered the hurtling blur of green rearing up toward his face, forcing him to drop Kubikiri Houcho and stick himself to the ceiling, such was the force behind Lee's kick. Naruto gave a small exhalation of breath and rubbed at the bruise on his chin, already starting to throb and ache.

_'Fast. I didn't even see that one.'_

"Whoa,there! I don't want to fight anyone just yet!" He shouted down at the stretchy suit wearing boy, and barely had time to evade the next flurry of blows. "Ah, for the love of-

_Damn but the boy could jump._

Naruto realized this as he flung himself backward, landing in an upside down crouch that involved sticking himself in a quadrupedal crouch against the ceiling. Lee's fist and unwound bandages were but a mere centimeter from his face, wedged in the plaster, buried to the elbow. Naruto scowled down at that bowl-cut hairstyle, a small sigh of annoyance leaving his lips. He hung there in the empty air for another beat before he decided to hit the release on his weights. He snapped forward like an arrow. Rock Lee sank like a stone. In the ensuing explosion of dust and dirt, Naruto landed on both feet, and was nonplussed to see that Lee had also managed such a feat as well.

Scarce had the smoke dissipated than Lee did something rather...od.

"My deepest apologies!" Lee actually _bowed _in the midst of their scuffle. "Please, I wish to see your skills for myself!"

"Eh?" Naruto tilted his head, confusion filling his face for the first time in months. "What in the hell-

"You idiot, move!"

Sasuke's shout notwithstanding, Naruto straightened when the sligtly shorter boy came at him again, this time flying into a vertical leap. With a loud and exuberant shout of "Konoha Senpu!" his heel came crackling across Naruto's face as the redhead blurred backward. "Once again!" A quick handspring and Lee somersaulted forward, performing the same taijutsu maneuver, this time with a great deal less room to maneuver on Naruto's behalf. Bringing his heel crackling outward in a snarling arc of green, Naruto frowned and began to raise an arm as he thought about the possibility of a guard...

Abruptly, he decided against it. Instead of guarding as Sasuke would have done, Naruto droped flat, falling to the ground. Had a certain Aburame been present, he would have compared Naruto's new crouch to that of a spider, prepared to pounce upon its prey. For Naruto waited patiently, allowing the blow to sweep harmlessly overhead. Sasuke saw Naruto through his Sharingan and remembered that moment of movement as his teammate surged upright. His hand crooked into a claw, pracitcally glowing with white chakra. Naruto cradled the energy in his palm for a moment, features drawn into a rictus of fury as fear and confusion flowered upon Lee's face.

"Game over, Lee!"

Thrusting his palm outward, Naruto surged to his feet and brought the hand crashing down as he...

_**Thwack!**_

Harmlessly doinked him across the head with a _none-too-gentle _flick of the finger. Lee winced and fell out of his crouch, confusion filling his face, only to be replaced by understanding. Hinata blinked and Sasuke blinked owlishly alongside her, both genin baffled by their teammates unhcaracteristic behavior. Naruto swept himself upright and stood. Lee stood as well, but there wasn't even a trace of the brutally efficient fighter in those eager eyes, not anymore.

"Was that good enough?" Naruto fixated upon Lee with a stern frown. "My powers are for the sake of peace; _not _to be paraded around and put on display."

He threw a glare to the crowd that had gathered, a faint wave of killer intent leaking out of the seal. Everyone quickly realized that they had somewhere to be or something to do, and hurried up the staircase that Naruto had been ascending only moments before. Deprived of any prying eyes, Naruto quickly set his weights back to their original setting, and felt the lightness in his limb subside, much to the ire of the prisoner in his stomach.

**"Must you insist on using those boorish devices?"**

_'If it helps slow you down, then yes.' _

**"Impudent pup! See if I help you again!"**

_'Hey, I never asked for your help to begin with!' _Naruto felt his world blurring as the fox tried to pull him into the seal and brushed off the beast's influence like flicking a feather from his shoulder. He felt a brief pulsation of vindictivness from his captive, but the kitsune fell silent as Lee's voice tugged the armored genin back to the here and now. Naruto blinked and wondered what Lee had said; because Neji wasn't looking quite so smug anymore now that he'd seen the two taijutsu specialists and their little "spar" of a match.

"I see, so that is why Gai-sensei gave you those." Naruto was already standing, brushing himself of the dust he'd acquired during his brief flight. "You truly are my rival in the springtime of youth!" All at once the moment was shattered; everyone sweatdropped, Naruto and Neji included. Sasuke recovered first. Having memorized their movements, he couldn't understand how it was that he hadn't been able to keep up with them, despite his awakened eyes.

_'How on earth did they do that? I blinked...and it was over!'_

"That jutsu just now...what _was _that?" he demanded, glaring impotently toward Lee.

"Because it was taijutsu." The taijutsu geniues simply beamed as he began to wind the bandages back onto his wrist. "In fact, what you saw just now was not a jutsu at all, Uchiha Sasuke-kun!" Even Hinata had to shudder at the boy's "youth" and wondered what Maito Gai had taught the lad. Tenten and Neji just sighed, anger forgotten in the wake of Lee's undeniable spontanieuty. Naruto was the only one who remained even remotely amiable about it, tittering softly to himself, oddly enough. He wasn't even hurt, and the bruise had already vanished from his chin. Hinata blinked, certain that she hadn't lost sight of it prior to their scuffle, but where she wondered, could it have gone?

_'Naruto-kun..._

Naruto's cheeks had a hale and hearty flush to them, as though he'd just enjoyed a thorough workout. Likewise for Lee. Naruto jammed Kubikiri Houcho back into its sheathe. Wiping the sweat off his brow, his left arm trembled only slightly as _he _extended a hand_. _"I really would enjoy a match with you." He left it hanging there, dangling in the abyss for what felt like an eternity while Rock Lee took these words to heart, eyes widening slightly.

"Nani?"

"Whatever this exam is like, you'd better be in the finals." Naruto continued, grinning toothily. "Next time, I promise I won't be holding back."

"YOSH!" Hinata couldn't help but giggle when Lee's eyes burned with twin flames of his "youthful" fire, leading him to firmly clasp the Namikaze's hand in his own."I sincerely hope to have the chance to fight you as well, Naruto-kun!" Naruto mirrored the gesture, returning the bone breaking grip with an iron vice of his own. Lee didn't even bat a bushy brow. For a moment it seemed as though neither would yield to the other, but after a few moments of their new rivalry, Naruto was the first to release his hand.

"Well then, we'll be seeing you inside." He gave a short wave with one hand, while at the same time surrepitously forming a seal behind his back. "We still have to register ourselves for the exam, after all, right guys?" Sasuke saw the seal, blinked, and didn't even miss a beat as he "hmmphed" in agreement, forming one of his own, now that no one was looking at him. It wasn't long before Hinata did the same, though her action earned her a baleful glare from her cousin.

"Wait! Where did you get that sword?"

Alas, they didn't get very far, as Tenten mistook Naruto's flush for something other than it was. Naruto had to stop to reply to the kunoichi's inquiry, and immediately his fate was sealed. Soon the so-called- Hokage-to-be found himself treading through the minefield that was shinobi diplomacy. Tenten remained utterly unconvinced that he was at fault for starting the fight, which left Naruto weaving his way through a delicate intricacies of a different sort, a matter in which Rinnegan was more harmful than it was helpful...

"Ah...um, well, you see, this sword was actually a gift."

"As in it was GIVEN to you?"

Naruto deadpanned.

"Obviously."

_"Wai!"_He was entirely unprepared for Tenten's squeal of delight. "So Zabuza-san really DID give you that sword!"

"Like I said...yes." Naruto was growing increasingly flustered by the moment. "Now if you don't mind, we need to be going...

"Oh?" Tenten batted an eyelash at the obscenely naive Naruto, just to fluster him. "That's too bad. I was really enjoying our conversation to...

"Ah," Naruto threw a helpless glance Hinata and Sasuke. "I...I see."

It took Sasuke all of five seconds to realize it.

Outside of combat and pleasant chatter, Naruto _did _have a weakness. He was completely and utterly a fool for women. Even Hinata couldn't suppress a smile as the redhead struggled to explain to the kunoichi that it really wasn't Lee's fault at all., and somehow ended up further entangling himself in her verbal web of pleasantries. Damn, he actually felt sorry for the dobe. He really wasn't used to all this attention, even when it was harmless teasing.

As a certain Nara might say...

"Troublesome."

The two faux genin watched the events from behind the door they'd been guarding. A swift handseal and plume of smoke revealed them for who they truly were, not genin by any means, but actual Chunin, each waring a small smile despite the near beating they'd received at the hands of Naruto and Sasuke. They observed Naruto's hesitant conversation with Tenten, and shook their hards in wry amusement as the topic continued to degenerate.

"So those are the precious students of Kakashi's and Gai, eh?"

"So it would seem."

They smiled.

"Looks like we've got some promising Genin this year."

**0o0o0o**

_"Uugh."_Naruto, Sasuke _and _Hinata each winced simultaneously as their shadow clone dispersed, leaving the trio with a flood of memories and images to sift through as they climbed the final stairwell to the examiners room. Naruto, most of all, was blushing furiously, but refused to divulge the reason why, although his teammates had a near perfect recollection of the events. Even now, with Team Nine right behind them, he was _still _blushing furiously, something neither Sasuke nor Hinata could bring themselves to understand.

They'd each sent a clone out to take stock of the examiners, and of course, the competition. Naruto had failed miserably, all three of his bunshins being dispelled by some mint haired kunoich that had just so happened to spot them, realize what he was up to, and shove a tanto in each of their stomachs. That was why Naruto was blushing. He'd been humiliated by a kunoichi and he would live with that knowledge for the rest of his ridiculously long life.

Thankfully, Sasuke had enough common sense to keep his two cents out of this matter.

"You know, I'm really starting to hate that justu." The Uchiha touched a hand to his head and winced for the final time. "How the hell do you deal with all of this?" Naruto didn't even bother to question his ally. He knew what Sasuke was referring to, the dissemination of memories and chakra each clone coughed up upon dispersing. A useful little trick to be sure, if you had massive reservoirs of chakra at your disposal and the willingness to utterly exhaust yourself by birthing a small army at will, that is.

Naruto, having made only three clones for the purpose of reconaissance, could proudly say his limit topped off somewhere in the upper hundreds.

Unfortunately, Sasuke could only produce a maximum of five simulatenously, and even then it placed inumerable strain upon his chakra coils, not to mention Sharingan. Naruto grimaced and reminded himself to focus exclusively upon the task of hunting down Itachi once the exam was over. Moving on, he spared a glance for Hinata, who was only just beginning to catch her breath after creating not one, not two, but ten kage bunshin, which was impressive, given that she'd only been able to manage two, when he'd last trained with her. With this in mind, Naruto offered some generic explanation to his teammate and waved their concerns aside.

Thankfully the ensuing explosion of dust and dirt he'd made upon dropping from the ceiling gave Team Seven the cover needed. Within those ten seconds they'd each had ample time to create a clone and send their dopplegangers hurtling up the stairs. In the field, it would have been a brilliant and noteworthy tactic, sending kage bunshin to scope out the enemy while the originals stayed behind in order to stal for much needed time. And onone would have been the wiser, as Naruto planned...

If Neji-teme hadn't been using Byakugan at the time and immediately called foul, that is.

Sasuke's clones hadn't even made it to the stairs before someone's senbon-and he had a damned good idea who- hit each of them in the neck, instantly popping them. Hinata's clones had gotten just a bit further than his own, but her dismal expression did little to suggest that she'd gathered sufficient intel on the competition. Ordinarily, Sasuke would reassure her with a simple gesture; something as menial as a small smile, hand on the shoulder, or words of encouragement.

Here, in this crowded hall, he daren't speak, and any moves on his part would likely be taken as a sign of weakness on his behalf, creating a giant bull's-eye on Hinata's forehead. If they saw him try to cheer up their dissapointed comrade, they would instantly deem Hinata to be the weak link in the otherwise flawless Team Seven. Though by no means weak nor an easy mark, there was still a chance an enemy could make such an assumption and Sasuke was loathe to give them that impression. Regardless of how advantageous it might prove to them, the avenger just didn't have it in him to permit such an unecessary -and potentially fatal- risk.

In the Chunin Exams, weaknesses got you killed pretty damned quick.

_'Damnit. Now I'm worrying about these guys too..._

Sasuke rubbed at his head and winced in rememberance as Naruto muttered what plans he had in store for a certain overly confident Hyuuga. All because that arrogant prick had spotted a single kage bunshin, he'd seen fit to shout it toward the heavens, and because of that those damn examiners had come...

"Kuso..." Naruto growled and ground his fists amidst this thought. "To hell with peace! I'm going to beat the crap out of that guy, damnit!"

Leaving the entirety of Team Seven with sizeable welts atop their heads, their punished for supposedly trying to "cheat" on the exams. Naruto hadn't the foggiest how you could cheat when the exam hadn't even started, but he strongly suspected it was favortism on the examiners part. Damn, now his knuckles were really itching. But as always, Naruto was ridicously quick to revert back to his usual exuberant self, something that seemed to elevate Hinata's mood as always.

"Na-Naruto-kun...you sh-shouldn't be so hard on yourself." He spared her a puzzled glance, to which the girl squeaked and swiftly glanced aside. "A-Ano...I-It's my fault the examiners n-noticed...

_'She's blaming herself again..._

Naruto frowned.

"What makes you say that, Hinata?"

"Ano...Neji-nii-san said my clones w-were the most noticeable to him, so-

"You're a shinobi, right?" Naruto asked.

"Um..., yes, Naruto-kun," Hinata answered, dropping her eyes.

"Then the fact that your clone _wouldn't _have been noticed without your bastard cousin fucking things up hasn't changed, has it, Hinata?" Naruto continued, nearly wasting an entire breath on the rapid response given. But it was well worth the effort as he watched Hinata straightened a bit, bat her eyeslashes a few times and navigate toward the same conclusion. Eventually, blushing lightly, but with a sure tone in her voice, Hinata answered.

"You're right." She answered, her voice more sure this time, able to meet his eyes without a flicker of hesitation.

"There you go." Naruto finally let the mask slip from his face and smiled brightly. "Don't let him get you down, Hinata-chan. He's an ass."

She turned scarlet all over again.

"Na-Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked as a sudden spike of killer intent flared behind their backs. "They're right behind us!" Naruto made a face, turned over his shoulder, and, in a rare reversion to his old persona, stuck out his tongue and pulled at an eyelid simultenously. Given that he looked absolutely terrifying while doing so, well, that came as an added bonus. Neji was still smoldering in fact, when Team Seven finally reached the final bend, hooked a right, and left Team Nine behind as they took the hallway that had been designated for them.

'

Naruto also noticed, without Neji's baleful glare boring into her back, Hinata was bright and cheerful again, just as she'd always been. _Strange._ He glanced to Sasuke, wondering if the Uchiha had f

_'Huh.'_

Naruto stored this sudden flash of insight away for further inspection.

For some reason, Hinata always perked up whenever he was around. Sure, he'd noticed, but he hadn't _noticed _until just this very moment. Naruto blinked, once. Blinked again, four times. Upon the final blink, he forced himself to keep a steady his pace as the wires finally crossed inside his brain, once his mind followed these thoughts to their logical conclusion. He _didn't _just admire Hinata. The thought tore open a wellspring of dismay and longing inside his chest, something he'd been certain to lock away years ago during his younger days at the academy.

Maybe...Naruto sort of likd

_'Shit!'_ Naruto mentally face-palmed himself but it was not from anger._ 'Shit shit shit! Don't think that! Do not think! Do! Not! Think! That!' _Naruto stole a glance at Hinata, and ironically, did not think that which he'd been thinking. He thought of something else. Something much, _much _worse than the thoughts he'd thought he _thought _he was thinking-

_'Gah! That doesn't make any sense! I'm getting a headache from all this!' Naruto nearly broke from composure and scrubbed at his head with both hands. 'This is Hinata I'm thinking about here! So what if she cheers up when I'm around! That d-doesn't mean anything! I don't even like her like that...right?"_

**"Wrong!" **Kyuubi cackled madly.

_"Shut up you stupid fox!"_

All of that came boiling out, and when he risked a glance at Hinata. This time, it was Naruto who blushed. Thank the Gods for Sasuke. For at the very moment that Hinata would have turned and felt his eyes lingering upon her, Sasuke decided to speak up. Naruto whipped his head toward the Uchiha with an almost religious fervor and pretended to be enrapt with attention. Even more so when he felt Hinata's questioning gaze lingering upon his shoulders and the back of his head.

"Well, well, looks like this Chunin Exam is full of monsters." Sasuke had already recovered, brushing off his comrade's annoyance with ease. "Should be fun, neh?" Hinata blanched at the sudden surge of enthusiasm from Naruto as the two began to discuss whom they thought to be the strongest amongst the rookies and genin they had encountered thus far. Monsters indeed. She resisted the urge to push her fingers together again out of habit as she'd often done in the past.

_'I hope this exam isn't too difficult..._

Finally, they reached the door. As expected, Kakashi-sensei wasn't there to gree them. Someone else was. ascent desposited them in front of the door they had been seeking, and whatever she'd been about to ask was made moot point as they, once again, found their path barred.

Naruto exhaled softly as someone else was allowed past by the guard, not a jonin, not even a Konoha nin at all. Naruto couldn't quite see her hitiate from here, but he was almost positive that it bore the symbol of Kumogakure. Hinata saw her and slowed, as did Naruto. The young woman briskly kicked the door shut behind whomever had entered before them, and the harsh CLACK resonated loud and clear within the confines of the narrowed hallway.

_'Wu-oh.'_

"Which one of you is_ Namikaze Naruto?"_ Her crystal clear voice elicited a wince from Hianta, but Sasuke's reaction was entirely the opposite. Suddenly, Sasuke looked like he was about to explode, such was the fury etched into his every feature. Hinata sympathized with him, though she didn't share the Uchiha's sentiment. The Namikaze were quite infamous, especially one that bore the Rinnegan and had an Uzumaki for a mother. Naruto may not had known it, but his parent's status practically made him a celebrity. Add to this the sudden prosperity of Wave Country _and a _single-handedly defense of Iwa's Tsuchikage, and Naruto was practically _basking _in the limelight.

_"Again?"_ Sasuke repeated within a harsh breath, eyes downcast, trembling with such rage that it was violently visible within the hall, exuding from the Uchiha in a sinsiter phantom-like aura. "Why does everyone always speak so highly of you...Naruto!" Naruto flinched aside, but there was nothing that could be said for it now. Sasuke was beyond consolation, and with every instant that he brooded, the strange wraith like structure looming overhead seemed to take on better substance.

The kunoichi put an end to that with a leer.

"Damare, Uchiha." The girl scoffed and turned her gaze away from him. "I did not come here to speak with you." Naruto winced as a small spike of killer intent rose from Saskue. Rinnegan made him a god amongst shinobi, a particularly loathed and distrusted god, but one nonetheless. And apparently that godhood was beginning to seriously perturb his rival, if the murderous expression in Sasuke's face had anything to do with the growl rising out of his throat.

"Well then...why don't you get interested?"

Naruto edged forward, deliberately placing a hand between Sasuke and the sneering blond. Sasuke looked as though he were seriously contemplating a plan of attack just then. Naruto glared down at the crouched form of his teammate, Rinnegan leveling upon Sasuke's Mangekyo with a sudden numbness that Hinata had only dreamt about. The two stared each other down for a moment, and it looked as though Sasuke were actually _reaching _for a kunai.

Hinata swallowed nervously, alarmed by the sudden change in her companions.

_'He can't actually be thinking of..._

"Sasuke...Naruto froze as the Mangekyo locked upon him. _"Don't."_

_"Urusei!"_

Sasuke jerked his gaze back to the flaxxen haired Kumo-nin.

"Why the hell is it always about _him?"_

Naruto was about to say that it was hardly ever about him, until a sudden scent caught his attention. He paused, every fiber in his being rigid with disbelief. Disbelief, coated with just a smidgeon of an emotion he hadn't felt since his very first mission. Fear. Naruto breathed deeply inhaling the strange smell, denying the sudden dread it invoked as he sniffed at the air.

_'There's someone else here besides this girl. Someone like me...and that guy._

"Sasuke," Naruto spoke flatly, devoid of all emotion, speaking in the way he spoke to his targets, just before death. "Do you really want to die?" He placed a hand upon the hilt of his weapon, and put one hand toward the flaxxen haired blond silencing her and what she might've said. "Make no mistake. You pull that kunai out, you draw your weapon against me, and you'll be dead. I'll be damned if I let something as petty as your clan's bloated pride get between the three of us and this exam."

"What makes you think you can kill me?" Sasuke...was he actually considering turning on Naruto, just like that? "I don't even need to _blink _to send you to hell."

"I don't think." Naruto didn't even smile, he just stared Sasuke down as though he were looking at a rock, a rock about to be shattered and obliterated beneath the weight of his Rinnegan. "I know." A second passed, and then another. And another, and still another, as neither made a move. Hinata wanted to weep. She couldn't understand how the two of them had suddenly gone from best friends, to the worst of enemies, all in an instant. But she couldn't bring herself to move, couldn't do anyhing to interrupt them, to sever the tension that had been building up over the last month, all that, all a dream to her, all that had seemed so far away, came roaring into the present.

Namikaze and Uchiha leered at each other over cold steel, prepared to kill each other at the slightest provocation.

The moment seemed to drag on forever, and it would have, had Naruto not broken it with an inaudible movement of his lips. He was speaking, saying something, and whatever he'd said, it drained all the blood from Sasuke's face. Naruto displayed no satisfaction, pausing once to breath, and continuing onward. All the while the strange ghoulish skeleton over Sasuke began to fade, to diminish, until not even a glimmer of that tained chakra remained at all.

"You...You...

"..."

Naruto muttered something else. It could have been a word, it might have been a phrase, maybe even a sentence, but Hinata couldn't hear a thing. And then, the Namikaze leaned forward and _flicked _Sasuke across the forehead. Sasuke hissed, a furious sound shatering the silence. All at once, all that hatred leached out of the Uchiha. Sasuke went rigid. Hinata never had a chance to hear his reply, as Naruto broke the strap holding Kubikir Houcho, and flung it toward the Kumo shinobi.

Her hand snapped upward, twisting into annoyance as she caught the harmless leather binding and summarily burned it into a crisp.

"I told you I didn't need your help."

"Apparently, you do." A silken voice purred and in the same instant the air rippled to the right of the blond. "Really though, I thought an Uchiha would be so easy to control." Naruto arched an eyebrow as the wall thickened, revealing the silhouette of another shinobi attached to the plaster. This newcomer practically skipped toward them, before deciding to half a few paces away from the members of Team Seven, all of whom, looked on in disgust as they shed the camoflauge molting as though it were their second skin, as though they were some strange sort of...

**Insect. **

"And here I thought Uchiha were easy to control." She gave Sasuke a once over, but the Uchiha was clearly already himself again. Dazed, he spared glance to his surroundings, his exprssion already a hardened battle mask of readiness. Hinata felt her own figure nervously sliding into a preparatory stance as well. Naruto didn't even twitch. He kept his hand in the same position as when he'd thrown the strapping for his sword, his eyes narrowed in silent contemplation.

"And you are?"

_"Fu."_ The woman, for as the last of the camoflauge peeled away, this was indeed a young woman, smiled. "I've been dying to meet you, Namikaze Naruto." Naruto made the mistake of looking at her in that instant, and sorely regretted it. The moment their eyes met, the floor beneath him began to melt. He felt his surroundings begin to twist and distort themselves. _Fuck. _This was a genjutsu. He stood stock still, but the kunoichi standin gbefore him didn't even bat an eyelash, nor did she change.

"Do you like my pheremones?" Fu grinned mirthlessly, adjusting her forehead protector in a way that suggested she was being inattentive, yet wasn't. Sasuke spat a black and condemnatory oath, but Naruto barely even heard it as she claimed the rest of his senses as well, latching on with a avaracious ferocity that gave the Kyuubi pause, just for a moment. That moment was the most hellish agony pain, sorrow and joy that Naruto had ever experienced.

Fū was beautiful.

Kissed by the sun, soft in all the right places and hardened in the most exceptional ways, she took great pride in her body. _Fu took pride in everything_. Tapering down from her slender shoulders to her bronzed waist; flaring out again for her hips, Fu's upbringing in the sun-soaked land of Takigakure gave her figure an athletic, yet full figured appearance. Mint green hair spilled down her blouse, falling just short of her shoulders and invoking many a glare from the numerous kunoichi sharing the examination room with the aspiring genin.

Jade green and rawn with an incredible intensity, a baleful gaze canvassed the room and laid everyone, _everything, _bare. This stunning, caramel colored visage narrowed in concentration. Focused, and homed in upon inviduals of interest and weaklings she'd slaughter on sight. How sad. Most of them would never take part in another exam. Some would doubtlessly die in the coming day, but those, _oh those_were the lucky ones. For those to whom fate did not smile, brokeness and powerlesness awaited.

**"Bah, bothersome bitch."**

Naruto blinked, frowning as something pushed back the controlling prescence.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Hinata's startled yelp plucked Naruto from his reverie.

"Again?" Sasuke's groan was dangerously close to becoming a snarl as he stalked forward. Naruto's hand clamped down upon his wrist. Sasuke nearly turned around out of reflex before the redhead hauled him backward and spat. Not spat per-se, it was more like a sudden exhalation of mist, colliding now with the equally sudden geyser of blure fire the girl spewed towards them. Whatever it had been, it instantly vaporized once the gesyer of what touched itm negating the dense stream of fire and creating a thick mist throughout the from, the spray instantly negated the fires and sprayed up steam around the hall.

"Not bad." Fu quirked an eyebrow, but Naruto was already in motion, the demon fox telling him where to aim before his opponent even thought to look. He needn't have bothered. A bolt of azure came and went through the mist, then the takigakure shinobi hollered in disbelief as she was blown clear off her feet by the surprise attacker. Abruptly freed from the constrictive prescence, Naruto rounded on a brief flicker of movement as it hurlted itself out of the mist.

Blondie never saw it coming.

Naruto's hand snapped forward, seizing the air behid his head. It closed around the girl's thigh. Naruto allowed her to realize she'd been caught, before he sent her crashing facefirst into the floor. Just like that, the skirmish ended. Fu was sprawled out on her back, glaring up furiously at a livid Uchiha Sasuke, pinned to the floor by a series of black cords. Naruto traced those strange tethers of callous energy with one eye, careful to keep the other on the Kunocichi as she flung herself away from them, and found himself staring at a nonplussed Haruno Sakura.

"Picking a fight before the exams," The kunoichi placed a swift kick in Fu's ribs, one that elicited a snarl of disbelief. "How very droll." Naruto felt nothing for the pinkette, but it seemed that she'd taken the opportunity to reinvent herself at some point. No only had Sakura slashed her hair at the neckline, leaving the short tresses to dangle around her throat in a non-alluring manner, but there wasn't a single scrap of pink to be found anywhere on her, including her hair.

She must have taken dye to it, because, as the mist cleared, Naruto saw only the midnight black tresses of a kunoichi with startlingly bright emerald eyes. She'd discarded that horrible dress too, in the favor of a dark blue and low-cut vest with her family's crest and insignia emlazoned on the back and as a white circle against the camo. Naruto notched his opinion of her a centimeter to the north or so as he discovered that Sakura's"vest" wasn't a vest at all, as there it flared out into hakama pants with white bandaged stitching at the hips, bound by a belt containing -ironically enough- what looked to be a daisho sword pair, before continuing downward and flaring out a the cottails. With the new outfit designed the way it was, Naruto almost missted the gray sandals she's chosen over the usual blue standard that all Shinobi opted to wear.

Silver vambraces completed the seamless ensemble, and left him offering some small thanks to kami that she'd taken his advice, if not in skills, that at least in appearance. Last, but certainly not least, she had her hitiate tied tightly around her forehead, not atop it as she had when he'd last seen her. Not bad. Naruto still held little love for the Haruno, but at least she'd made herself useful in holding up that genjutsu user for a moment.

She noticed him then, and exhaled violently.

"Long time no see, Naruto."

"Enough!" The kumo kunoichi burst out loudly, hurtling Naruto back to the present. Naruto was already spinning, rounding as one of those black cords flung itself at him, and dissolved before it had the chance to coil around his wrist. The kumo kunoichi, on the other hand, took it well and rolled, someraulting to her feet with all the gracefulness of a trained ballerina. All this had happened in an instant, and Naruto was still swinging his arm around and Hinata to safety as Hidden Cloud ninja bowed to them, deep and low at the waist, if not a bit stiffly.

"I apologize for any affront I might have caused you." She apologized, raising her head and giving Hinata the much needed opportunity to take her in. She took in her attire, confirming that this girl was indeed of Kumo. And if her light and form fitting garb did not give that away, than her pale, porcelain skin confirmed it as did her accent and hitiate. Like Naruto, this girl had a strange second source of chakra, though hers was a great deal smaller than the Namikaze's, and seemed to resonate from a strangely colored star triangular seal placed upon her hip.

_'Her too? Her chakra is just like Naruto-kun's and...that other boy..._

She turned toward Fu, and sorely regretted the action. At the moment Hinata brought her gaze to bear upon the menacing Taki-shinobi, Fuu broke out of Sakura's bindings. All at once, she sawa huge hissing _thing _roiling out of the girl's chakra. Coming straight toward her! Terrified, Hinata deactivated her Byakugan. Naruto whipped around, soundless snarl leaving his lips as he placed himself before Hinata, blocking her fading vision of the strange winded greature as it lunged for her.

In the last instant of her perpetual vision, Hinata saw a fox. A massive and nine tailed creature, snapping furiously from Naruto's chakra coils, unseen to all but her. She watched the phantom fox lash out with a paw and shatter the strange golden apparition that raced toward it at breakneck speed. But before she could think to wonder at what it was, something hard smashed into her neck. Naruto had thrown himself backward, a hand twisted around and out of proportion by another of Sakura's strange black coils.

He was bleeding, and in her peripheals, Fu was rising...standing...

"An arm for an arm, right?" Sakura retracted the tendril and turned aside, a hand upon her hip. "We're even now."

"..."

Naruto said nothing, as a sudden blur of safforn filled Hinata's vision.

_**"That fucking hurt, you bitches and bastards!"**_

Within a sudden rush of air, Hinata blinked, realizing that the air leaving lungs was not hers, but _his_. Naruto had thrown himself in front of her at the last instant as someone -she suspected it to be the Takigakure shinobi- smashed a claw of golden energy into his stomach. Unfortunately, Hinata was behind him when this happened, and as a reult, both Namikaze and Hyuuga were sent hurling around the bend and into the far end of the hallway with such force that it jarred her stomach as Naruto turned, pivoted-

Hinata felt a dull crunch.

_'Oh no.' _

Hinata opened her eyes.

"Ow...

Naruto grunted, slowly opening one of his eyes, then the other. Blinking rapidly, he shook his head to clear it, only to feel the crumbling remains of his left arm fall from his head. He lay there for a few moments, wondering if he had blacked. Eveyrhing hurt. Kyuubi was trying to say something, but for some reason a ringing noise in his ears was blocking out most of what the demon was saying, even though Kyuubi never spoke anywhere outside of his body.

It wasn't until some of the tingling that was happening all over his body _stopped _that he felt something trembling in his arms. Feeling some hair brushing against his chin finally knocked all the sights an sounds back into place, as well as what had just happened. Looking down slightly, he noticed Hinata. Her hands covering her face as she lay against him, and was likely in shock. Naruto glanced across the hall, blinked, and looked down to Hinata, trying to process how on earth he'd let a jinchuuriki -he knew why Fu had so much chakra know- hit him with such force.

He looked down to Hinata again, felt his vocal cords snap back into place as the vile red chakra repaired his face and went to work on restoring the melted remnants of his arm. Handing at the edge of his peripheals, Naruto could see a wide eyed Sasuke coming toward him, face ashen and grey, but regaining some of his color when he saw Hinata, curled into a ball around the recovering redhead.

"Hi...na...ta...

Hinata breathed in sharply and looked up, the top of her head bumping against Naruto's chin. Naruto winced at the new pain, but it didn't seem to affect her as she gaped at him with wide, red-rimmed eyes. Naruto forced his chest to rise up and down, gasping softly as his lungs found oxygen and cried out in pain as the fles folded neatly over his chest. That was it. Naruto mentally swore he'd sooner die than push the Kyuubi's powers that far again.

He felt the three tails of chakra slithering back into the seal as he healed.

"Na-Naruto...kun?"

"My...ches...t...

Hinata immediately scrambled off of him, and started to look him over. Naruto waved her off and forced the chakra to where his injuries were at their most life threatening. Gods what a day this'd been, first his skull almost caved in thanks to Bushy Brow, next, Neji-teme ruins their recon plan, and now, now he'd just met a fellow jinchuuriki. She'd tried to tear his head off in full view of his friends. Now if there was anything else this exam could throw at him, Naruto had only this to say. Lovely. Naruto chuckled again, but there was no mirth behind it.

_'Gods...peace sure is painful..._

Hinata watched in amazement as Naruto's visible wounds started fixing themselves right before her eyes, small plumes of what looked to be steam rising from the worst among them. Naruto grunted, and forced himself off the floor, healed enough to stand by the time he'd risen to his feet. Hinata watched the Rinnegan boil back into existence, watched Naruto crook two fingers toward the ground, and suddenly Naruto was standing, and suddenly Fuu had appeared within his hand, or rather, her neck did, with the rest of her squirming to escape his grasp.

**"Never," **He wheezed furiously. **"Do that, again!"**

Fu tried to protest, but a choking gagging sound instead rose from her throat. Naruto realized that this must not be the examination room at all, else the candidates would have come boiling out those doors to see what all the fuss was about. Another genjutsu. Kami, he hated genjutsu! Naruto glared murderously upward at his fellow jinchuuriki, eyes narrowing to murderous slits as he tightened his hold, another inch and he'd break her neck.

**"Listen to me."** He willed her to look at him. **"LOOK AT ME!"**

She forced her gaze to meet his own.

**"I am your god."** Naruto ground out furiously. **"Do you understand me, Fu? I am your judgement. If you raise a hand against me outside of this exam, I am your death. If you lay a hand upon me, or Hinata-chan, or Sasuke, or any of my nakama outside this exam, I am your death**." Abruptly, Naruto slackened his grip. Relaxed. Dropped Fu to the floor, _let _her stare upward at him, _let _her know that he had held her life in his hands, and spared her. That was mercy, he told himself. That, was peace. That, was understanding. Naruto spared a life when he could have easily taken it and he didn't condone that life for senselessly lashing out against him.

The last vestiges of his cloak dissipated into the air around him.

"Now, where the hell is the examination room?"

Mute, Fuu pointed to a door at that end of the hall, the one that Naruto had flow through.

Sakura made a silent sound of approval, retracting the whip and freeing the one known as Fu from her bondage."Kiba. Shino. We're going, now." She spoke clearly, confidently, and Naruto nearly spun around when two shapes in the dim illumination of the hall bumped into him. Only then did he noticedthe Aburame and Inuzuka only a few paces behind Sakura. Kiba grunted toward Hinata, spared his ever brilliant grin toward Naruto and Sasuke, and then the trio were gone, and had slipped inside.

"Calling your fucking allies for backup, huh?" Apparently too shamed to apologize for her base and callous actions, Naruto watched as the genjutsu user known as _Fu_, make a handseal. _Fu _glowered at him for all of an instant, and then she too was gone, vanishing in a poof of smoke. Both had probably gone back inside. Naruto watched them go, patted himself down to make sure he had everything, and only then did he turn toward Hinata.

"So...um...I guess you know now, huh?" He rubbed at his head sheepishly. "You're probably wondering what the hell that was, huh?"

Surprisingly, Hinata shook her head.

"Ano...that's alright Naruto-kun...you used that power to p-protect m-m-me so...

"You wouldn't be the first." Naruto glanced over his shoulder, and found the buxom blond he'd fought before standing behind them. "The Kyuubi's power is a strange and fickle thing, after all." Sasuke offered little more than a weary sigh, looking as though he were suddenly twice his age, and thoroughly exhausted by all that he'd seen. But the strange blond said nothing, merely opting to raise her arms in a lackadasial shrug. "I had wanted to see you abilities but...

Naruto chuckled hoarsely, utterly exhausted and the exam didn't start for another fifteen minutes.

"Let me guess, you wanted to see my skills, miss...

"Yugito." The girl swept a hand through her flaxxen blond hair and spared the redhead a dazzling smile. "Nii Yugito," The sole occupant of the hall stared back at them, unflinching, silver irises regarding the approaching team with a pleasant smile, and deliberately locking upon Naruto. Naruto met the stare and returned it with a small degree of confusion, and what felt like recogniton.

"My apologies...but have we met?"

"We have not." Yugito shook her head and made a show of unfurling her belt and revealing the seal upon her hip. Just enough to expose the skin, but still, Naruto blushed and turned away from the sight of her creamy peach colored skin.

"Your biiju might recognize mine, the Nibi."

Sasuke uttered another oath.

"Oh great. Just how of these damn things are there?"

"Nine, to be exact." Yugito replied sweetly. "Four of which, the Ichibi, Nibi, Nanabi, and Kyuubi, are in this exam." She ticked each number off on a finger, and with each countdown, Hinata seemed to be even paler than before. Naruto surely noticed her complexion, and he had to swallow the gorge before it could rise in his throat. "As you can see, your friend is the host to the Kyuubi, the ninth tailed, and strongest of the Biiju, while I, as I said, am the holder of the second, that wild woman you saw before is the vessel for the seventh and the first...

"I've a feeling we've already met him." Naruto muttered blacky, facing toward the door. "His name is Saabaku no Gaara, isn't it?"

Yugito painted puzzlement onto her face.

"How did you know?"

"We met him." Sasuke mumbled softly. "Before the exam."

"Then I'd advise you to stay well clear of him." Yugito smiled in that overly sweet way for which she'd already become well-known. "He'll kill you without hesitation."

Hinata and Sasuke shuddered.

Naruto didn't smile, as they'd been walking the entire time, and had now finally, finally reached the genuine door, the number, 301 plastered on the sign above. Instead, he gripped the handle with the hand that had finished healing, and turned towards his fellow container, suprisningly calm despite the host of revelations during the last half hour. His gloved hand tightened upon the handle, clenched and unclenched as though he couldn't bring himself to do the deed.

"Guys...

**_"?"_**

"Once I open this we'll be obligated to start the exam." He looked to Hinata planitively. "If you guys want to...back out, that's alright. Yugito folded her arms and watched the little display, somewhat amused by the fondness of it all when both genin adamantly refused to quit. Even the Hyuuga girl was unusually insistent about taking part, going so far as to insist that Naruto could never possibly be a monster, not to her and not to anyone else. The murmur of voices on the other side were all but inaudible. The door and the room beyond this point must have been soundproofed to such nearly an insane extent, such were the myriad tinges of chakra from beyond.

_'Huh.' _Yugito permitted herself a small smile as the boy's teammates moved to stand beside him. _'Raikage-sama was right. The cutie just needed a little motivation..._

The Uchiha just placed his hand upon Naruto's and Hinata her's. Now, this gesture must have meant something to the three chibi's, as Naruto's eyes, though dry of tears throughout the entire ordeal, suddenly became moist and welled violently with unshed waterworks. A picture perfect memory indeed. Yugito watched that weakness in the boy's eyes, and she watched it become strength. Naruto glared at the door suddenly, as though it were the most loathsome creaturein the world.

"Alright then, its settled."

Yugito laughed softly to herself.

"Would you mind opening it, then?

With a great and rending tear, Namikaze Naruto flung the door clear from its hinges and leapt into his destiny...

_'I will. I will forge peace, no matter what.'_

...carrying the fate of Uchiha Sasuke, Hinata Hyuuga, and countless others alongside him.

* * *

**A/N: Enter First Exam and the meeting with da KAGES'! Bwah so many reviews! As to Sasuke's gender I'm making it ambigous for now based on the poll because some of ya'll apparently voted for a female Sasuke in the harem or something in that order XD Anywho,****I wanted to make everything as genuine as possible according to everyone's personality and what-not, but several characters really shone in this chapter moreso than other's as you'll soon find out in the Exams..., as do a few other notable characters. **

**Spoiler: A few "ahem" notable people will make Chunin.**

**Oh, and remember there IS a poll, and that poll will ultimately determine who will be in the harem; it'll be a sizeable amount, but nothing too extreme. **

_**FIRST AND SECOND EXAM WILL BE STARTED AS OF NEXT CHAPTER AS ALL THE REMAINING PARTICIPANTS ARE IDENTIFIED! FROM THERE, WE GET FOREST OF DEATH AND A CERTAIN SLIPPERY SNAKE! HOW WILL TEAM SEVEN FACE THIS PERILOUS THRAT NOW THAT THEY'VE REAFFIRMED THEIR PURPOSE? IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! STAY TUNED XD**_


	6. Just who The hell Do you Think we Are?

**A/N: Sorry for the missing segment in the last chapter and many thanks to my main man Muroshi. I might just go with your idea, my friend. Anywho, this chapter will be fairly combat intensive, as I'm hoping to wrap up both the first AND Second Exam in this page turner of epicness. I hope you're hungry, because I have gone to every length to make sure, no make CERTAIN that this chapter leaves you satisfied. Journey's will end and other will begin, many shall soon die and some shall live, and major ass kickings some expected, others, entire curveballs that even _I _didn't see coming, will be doled out all around.**

**Here we go, and wait till next chapter for the long awaited brawl! Orochimaru vs Naruto vs Sasuke vs Hinata vs "?"**

**(Just who The hell Do you Think we Are?)**

Naruto didn't say a word.

All eyes in the room leveled upon the three of them, but it was the Rinnegan that drew the most awe. And unfortunately, the most ire. Naruto detected a host of killer intent swiveling upon him from a certain corner, thanks to one Fu Kamikaze**(Needed a surname)**in the corner of the room, glaring bloody daggers at him from their earlier encounter. Naruto just smiled and waved, bringing all attention to the kunoichi and diverting it from him, much to Fu's ire.

Someone inhaled sharply.

"You..!"

"Oof!" Naruto nearly flew from his feat as a certain brown eyed beauty clomped him with enough force to break his back. Fortunately, Naruto knew them well enough to realize this was not their intent, and managed to survive what would have otherwise been a lethal embrace. He swung Haku around for a final time, his previous hesitations all but forgotten in the wake of today's catastrophic events, it was just good to see a friendly face, especially when said visage wore the most dazzling smile upon release.

"You're looking well, Naruto-san." Haku smiled in that unflappable way Naruto so envied. "Uchiha-kun." Sasuke returned the bow when it was given, completely aware and uncaring of the whisperers it sent racing around the room. Two of Konoha's most prestigious clans, bowing to a newly inducted genin, and a foreigner at that? Suddenly everyone was looking at Haku with a healthy level of respect but more-so with fear than that rare glimpse of admiration.

_Somewhere in a distant building, embedded in bitter conference with the other kages, Sarutobi Hiruzen felt the spike of killer intent and smiled._

Hinata had just finished a courtesy of her own when Naruto stated the obvious in an even rarer lapse of character than before.

"Hey, you got your hitiate!" Naruto immediately noticed the Leaf Headband bound tightly around her forehead in place of the Kirigakure insignia. In terms of attire, Haku hadn't changed into anything outlandish, she'd simply discarded all the heavy clothing that had left Naruto thinking she was a Hunter-nin the first time they'd met. Naruto didn't let his relief show, but he was secretly glad to have them gone, as they reminded him how close he'd come to killing her during the battle of the bridge.

Haku was wearing the same kimono she'd worn when he'd seen her in the clearing, but that was where the resemblance ended. Like a certain kunoichi, every visible piece of skin, save for her face and neck, was covered in mesh armor and fishnet armlets and stockings. Atop that she wore a thin vest with a zipper, creating the ridiculously long garnet sleeves that obscured her hands even now. Who knew what kind of weapon she was hiding under those sleeves?

Naruto noted a few empty sheathes at her back and belt and wondered even more. Clearly she'd taken up weapons training at some point, not only did he count four empty sheathes for varying and a strange sort of interconnecting harness that fastened the leggings at each thich together, but she'd also taken to wearing a crisscrossing harness of senbon, in contrast to the thick and heavy leather strappings that housed Naruto's Hiraishin Kunai at his chest and hip.

Just like Sakura, Haku had reinvented herself. But she'd done so in such a way that added to her already considerable talents. Naruto spied two water release scrolls furnished in place of her weapons pouch and wondered at their purpose. Gods, he felt so _under-dressed!_Laughable, considering he'd brought Asuma's trench knives, Kurenai's storage scroll, and the Kubikiri Houcho; along with a full set of Fuma shuriken and his father's kunai.

Naruto felt his knuckles itching again as he inconspicuously tested the spring launchers on either wrist. Given the most minuscule amount of chakra directed toward his wrists, and the the deadly knuckle knives would come flying from their loaded shafts at the bottom of his forearm. He had a few other "gimmicks" in place, but he couldn't adjust those without bringing attention to himself. Within the edge of his peripherals, he could see Sasuke and Hinata performing similar checks on their equipment, but those damnable eyes of theirs didn't require any movement to make sure all their safeguards were up to snuff and ready to be used at a moments notice.

Sasuke, like Naruto, had come fully decked out for war. He'd taken his father's war fan out of its place in the Uchiha safe house, and save for the tanto belted this thick and an unusually large holster for his shuriken, Naruto couldn't detect any others gizmo's the Uchiha might have equipped. Meaning that for every weapon Naruto had brought, Sasuke had at least twice as many variations of those odd kusarigama and wire-windmill-shuriken hidden within the folds of his jacket and newly restored cloak bearing the Uchiha symbol in full prominence on both the back, front and sleeves. Thankfully, Sasuke had left the collar open so he could always leave one arm free, but for some reason, Naruto felt a strange...nostalgia as he looked upon his rival.

Sasuke only smiled, subtly allowing his gaze to slide toward Hinata.

Naruto followed.

Of all three of them, Hinata had come relatively unchanged. She'd discarded the cream-colored jacket in favor of a lighter orphan blue vest with thin sleeves that reached only to her elbows as opposed to Sasuke's long sleeved black Uchiha cloak and Naruto's mottled camouflage and mixed hues of constantly shifting greys and and blacks. The only weapon immediately noticeable by the Rinnegan was an obscure looking staff folded against her back, and a few extra shuriken holsters on her arms.

Hinata had taken to bandaging her hands in a style similar to Neji's during the last days of her training. Unlike her cousin however, these wrappings did not extend to her right arm and left leg. Rather, they sheathed both arms and her legs and perhaps a portion of her neckline from what Naruto could see; because her knee-high slacks and wristbands sheltered the rest of the wrappings from those who might know the secrets that lay beneath the layers of pristine cloth.

Naruto lingered upon her hair, upon her face, for the briefest moments. Smiled. Was reminded of the present by a shy but insistent smile from his teammate. Oh! Right, he'd been talking to Haku hadn't he? Naruto had to blink a few times before he finally found his senses again and he told himself it was Hinata's headband, her headband around her neck that he'd been staring at, not something bad and inappropriate as he turned to face the former nukenin once more.

"I see you've elected to keep your hairstyle." Yup, definitely Haku. They embraced a second time, but this time it was purely professional. Naruto grimaced sourly as every eye locked upon them. What a pain these guys were. They were probably trying to decide who was the greater threat, the Rinnegan or Haku's ice element. _Let them see for themselves._A sour thought trickled through his mind and Naruto pursed his lips in annoyance at the Kyuubi's prodding.

_'One more word out of you and you'll be watching Barney for the next century.'_

Kyuubi proved its intense displeasure with a hiss loud enough to rattle Naruto's eardrums.

**"You wouldn't dare!"**

_'Hello? Rinnegan, remember? I could just as easily materialize a horde of angry shinobi inside your cell, but that wouldn't be anywhere near as fun.'_

**"For you."** The fox retorted blackly.

_'Aye, for me.' _Naruto permitted himself a small smile as he pulled away from Haku_, _who didn't kiss him this time. Her discretion was admirable, yet Naruto couldn't help but sulk a bit. He missed the feel of her lips against his cheek. Funny how the little things mattered after a near death experience. He was strangely grateful however, it spared him the confusion of explaining things to Hinata. Suffice to say Haku was her...senpai. The heiress swallowed Haku's answer without so much as a flicker of hesitation, something for which Naruto was even more grateful.

The less Naruto lied, the better.

"So you're in the exam?" Naruto found himself asking all of thirty seconds later, now that introductions were settled. "But I thought you need a three man squad?" Haku acquiesced that this was also the case but her three allies would be arriving shortly. Naruto frowned, wondering if Sasuke and Hinata had the same thought. Haku was on a four man cell?For the strangest reason, Naruto left heruneasy and concerned as he turned to survey the examination area. He allowed his Rinnegan to sweep over the room. First, the genin of Iwagakure. These candidates, one of which he saw to be none other than Onoki's very own granddaughter, Kurotsuchi, hailed from the rock solid village that valued orders more than the lives of their comrades.

More out of formality than friendliness, Naruto waved toward her, but as with their last "chat" she spat in feigned disgust and turned away from the puzzled redhead. He filed her face away in memory, and watched the rest of them, gauging their reactions and numbering them from least to most troublesome.

Nearly all of them were in teams of three, even Fu. Naruto offered a prayer for the two boys that were her teammates. Next, came the olive and pale skinned people of Kumogakure, those who, much like Yugito, were as odd and free-floating as the clouds for which their village had been named. _Strange. _There were only a handful of Kumo-gennin, and Yugito remained at the forefront of those few in their little entourage of closely knit shinobi, and she was the only one of them who smiled at him, which instantly led to an intense pressing as to her whereabouts from the older genin in the group. If the Niibi vessel was at all concerned by the sudden questioning at the hands of her superiors she certainly did little to show it.

_Next._

Naruto mentally chastised himself and swept his sight over toward the next group, the others following his gaze.

Sunagakure had only three candidates, and the arrogance of such a selection perturbed him. But irritation faded into confusion and wonderment, as she saw them. One, a boy with a painted face and a strange black hoodie, was clutching at a bloody stump where his right hand should've been. Humorous, considering Naruto had been the one to sever his hand in the first place. Currently, he sowed a series of chakra threads -interesting- through the severed limb as he attempted to reattach what he'd lost.

He was doing rather well. Then the blonde "Temari" he believed her name was, saw him staring and glared a baleful glare. Naruto blinked, unimpressed. She had every right to be angry with him after what he'd done to her brother. It was her inevitable reaction that prompted a small smile. Would she attack given the first opportunity? Or would she lie in wait, choose his moment of greatest liability, and strike at her own discretion?

Naruto didn't see Gaara anywhere, but he was glad for such providence. The androgynous redhead had disturbed him before Naruto knew he was a jiinchuuriki. Now that he knew Gaara's secret, he suspected that his ability had something to do with sand, or at least the manipulation of earth, at best. Naruto frowned and exhaled, passing over the strange Amegakure shinobi whouth much of any real attention, and he would have swept over Grass and the Hidden Village of Sound, too, if Sasuke hadn't said something.

"Hey," Naruto blinked, nonplussed as the Uchiha sidled up beside him. "Take a look at that guy." Hinata and Haku were chatting amicably in the background, so there was little chance of them hearing whatever the Uchiha found so pressing that needed to be said. Naruto followed Sasuke's lead for the second time that day, and felt his blood run cold. The Rinnegan wasn't meant to detect chakra, at least not in the ways of which the Sharingan and Byakugan could.

"Who the hell is that?" Sasuke must have seen it too, because he sounded just as concerned as Naruto looked. "His chakra...its...its not normal." Naruto was aware of Sasuke's hand on his shoulder, he could felt it clamping down as the Uchiha got a good look at what was lurking underneath that...thing. Naruto was too stunned to even feel the pain, or the bruise flowering upon his skin. Vision tunneled in that instant, and incredibly, _it _remained unware of their attention.

"Obviously." Naruto's retort lacked its usual charisma as he peered at the shinobi.

Naruto stared at one of the grass nin, noticed a subtle pause as one of them stopped before a mummified looking man known as "Dosu" going by the name tag he'd been forced to wear alongside just about everyone else in the exam, and muttered something. Whoever that grass shinobi was, he had HUGE chakra. Naruto began to sweat, breaking out in a pale pallor as his Rinnegan beheld a roiling mass of dark and twisted chakra lurking beneath the surface of his skin, almost as if-

"Can I help you boys?" Naruto _and _Sasuke, _both _of them froze as the Grass shinobi turned toward them and smiled. It was a pleasant smile, true enough, kindly, even. But dojutsu like theirs did not lie. Nay, Rinnegan was nigh incapable of deception, and the Mangekyo Sharingan could tear down any illusion, including the pseudo smile this way-too-pretty-to-be-a-guy leveled upon them. This wasn't a chakra any human should have. Naruto would have guessed he was a jinchuuriki, but there was no alternative chakra source burgeoning the black chakra in his-no...its veins. Naruto had no idea what it was but he and Sasuke agreed on this matter.

This guy wasn't a genin.

"Erm..., Naruto couldn't find the words, and Sasuke was likewise rendered speechless. Still, the Grass shinobi stared. He had moved away from the Otogakure shinobi now, but Naruto wasn't given to take his eyes off the shinobi standing before them. What's more, he couldn't bring himself to move. Sasuke lasted all of an instant longer before the same expression of horror and disbelief twisted into his visage like so much barbed wire, shattering whatever defenses his pride had tried to muster.

"Hmmm...the grass shinobi began to regard them with a soft leer. "The two of you are rookies, aren't you?"

Naruto swallowed simultaneously alongside Sasuke.

"Ah, _now _I recognize you two." The shinobi answered his own question amiably. "Uchiha Sasuke, Namikaze Naruto." Naruto shuddered as an impossibly long tongue flicked across its lips, much, _much _longer than any human should have. Naruto tried to move his hand into the seal for "release" but something was wrong with his arm, and he was moving too slow, far too slow to make any difference as this predator slithered toward them, implacable, unstoppable...immortal.

_'Where the hell did that one come from?'_

It felt as though they were staring into the eyes of a massive serpent, tongue flitting in and out, tasting the air, tasting _them _as it decided how to devour its prey. Naruto felt, rather than noticed when a slim shadow moved in his peripherals. Was Sasuke actually reaching for a kunai? Despair welled up inside his chest as the grass shinobi arched an eyebrow. Sasuke froze again. Bound by the terrible cords and shackles of dread, they stared down this inplacable creature, effortlessly gliding towards them.

_'He's not even human!'_

And then Sasuke's eyes started to bleed.

"Ah!" Yuck! The freak sounded like it was having an orgasm! "Those eyes...**!"**

_**"Tsukiyomi."**_Sasuke choked out the command within a desperate whine that wasn't quite the pitch of his regular voice. Naruto tried to turn but his body locked up again and wouldn't obey. He could still breathe thankfully, but the Rinnegan remained riveted upon the slowing pace of this all consuming nightmare as it refues to stop, even for a moment-

The shinobi froze. Not from fear, but with an incredibly wide smile as Sasuke brought the full force of his Mangekyo Sharingan to bear upon the threat. The Grass freak wasn't coming toward them now, but somehow that was so much more worse than his inexorable tread. And then he chuckled. Well, it was more of a giddy tittering, but it was disgusting and perverse all the same. Sasuke made a loud strangled sound and the man stopped laughing altogether, his features becoming rigid, ruler-straight.

"Number thirty-five!" The grass shinobi turned, almost reluctantly, as his registration number was called. By the time he'd submitted his application Naruto and Sasuke had already made every effort to hide themselves in the throng of genin taking the exam and Chunin conducting it. They'd be starting any second now, but all thoughts of success had been wiped from their minds. Haku and Hinata still bantered in the background and they'd no way of knowing the terror the two had just encountered.

Hidden in plain sight, the two had a moment to catch their breath. Just a moment. Naruto felt the Kyuubi reprimanding him for such a slip-up, but in less than a minute, he'd recovered. The memory was a painful reminder however, a warning to steer clear of that shinobi during this exam, at any and all costs. That was one warning he'd be heeding. Naruto spared a glance for Sasuke, expecting some glib retort from the Uchiha.

Sasuke was quivering, dabbing furiously at both eyes with a tissue, trying to clear the blood from them before anyone saw. Naruto handed him a towel and the Uchiha soundlessly snatched it away as he scrubbed at his face, eager to erase the crimson stains. When he finally spoke, his voice still had that strange, broken pitch. Sasuke didn't speak for some time once he noticed that, and Naruto saw no sign of the strange shinobi when they emerged from hiding.

"Holy shit." Sasuke spit the words as though they were sour, his voice normalish, again. "What was that thing?"

"We can't fight that guy." Naruo turned away with a shudder. "Was that...a paralysis technique just now?" Sasuke started to shake his head, regretted it as he felt his gorge rise. He hadn't even seen a seal, and the way that freak had been looking at them made him squeamish. Sasuke wanted to prove himself just as, if not more, than Naruto, but if it meant fighting that monstrosity, then he'd gladly remain a genin for the rest of his days. Anything, so long as it kept him from that freak of nature, so long as he lived nothing else mattered-

**Foolish little Sasuke.**

_'No! What am I saying!'_

"You okay?"

Sasuke blinked away the tears of blood and water, looked as though he'd say something, and resigned himself to a weak nod.

"I'm..._just fine."_

Naruto watched Sasuke quiver again, and decided not to press him.

**"This is Bullshit."**

For once, Naruto agreed with the Kyuubi.

_'I knew the exam would be tough, but that guy...what's someone of his calibre doing here?'_

Baffled, he allowed Sasuke to lead them back to Hinata, and by the time they did, Haku's teammates had arrived.

"Oh, hello." Naruto had to take his attention away from Sasuke when a new voice greeted them. "So you must be Haku's friends." A purple gloved hand adjusted a pair of rimmed spectacles. Sasuke raised his head as well, taking in the slightly older boy, his humble garb, and silvery hair. Like Haku, he proudly wore a Leaf hitiate across his forehead. Standing at either side of him were two other Konoha genin, ones that Naruto had seen around the village once or twice, recognizing them only by the hood masks that covered their faces.

Sasuke was still skulking, touching a hand to his chest and struggling to control his breathing.

_'Damnit. Too close, that was much too close..._

If Naruto hadn't been there...

_'W-Why am I thinking that? Idiot!'_

Sasuke fought down the tide of bitter resentment as Haku's teammate introduced himself as none other than _Kabuto Yakushi. _Naruto immediately proceeded to strike up conversation with their senpai, but Sasuke was lost in his own thoughts. _Damnit. Why do I always find myself depending on him? _He slammed the lid down on those thoughts, but much too late. A trickle of regret had wormed its way into his heart and strangled the words Sasuke wanted to say, just as it always did, always had, always would.

_'No matter how hard I try, no matter how much I train or I ruin my body during training...its still not enough!_' Sasuke felt his hands tighten upon the gauntlets he'd concealed within his sleeves. Damnit! It was always like this, and it was only getting worse every damned day! Worst of all, it wasn't Naruto's fault. Hinata couldn't take the blame, either. No, this burden was Sasuke's to bear and he alone'd bear it with responsibility and dignity and-

_'Who the hell am I kidding?' _Hopelessness threatened to drown him. _'I hate this!'_

Sasuke risked a glance toward Naruto, the center of attention as always as he simultaneously chatted with both Kabuto and the now approaching rookie nine that hadn't made it yet. Sasuke caught a flicker of blond in his peripherals and noticed Team Ten. He ignored them. Eventually, though by no means willingly, Sakura's group, the newly restyle Team Eight converged on their location as Kabuto revealed his Ninja Info Cards, and that, that was when Sasuke realized they were talking and he needed to bring himself back to reality.

There would be time for brooding later.

"You're all such a troublesome bunch." Nara Shikamaru was responding to something Naruto had said. "There's no need to get so fired up, man." Kabuto flicked over the Info Card both boys had been staring at and Sasuke was surprised to see that all four guards contained info on the the four "jinchuuriki" taking part in this exam. Naruto seemed to be quite proud of all the "?" that detailed what'd been his skill set only weeks before, now mostly unknown.

Sasuke counted Fu, Gaara, and Yugito's stats, and realize that this was their first time exam part as well. He declined to comment on the abilities they'd already displayed. If those monsters happened to take down a few of the higher ranked genin or even "that guy" then so much more the better. Abruptly, he decided to use his voice again, hoping it wouldn't betray him this time. He reached for one of the cards Kabuto had turned over, and was surprised to see Sabaku no Gaara staring back at him.

_'This guy..._

Four jinchuuriki. Ichi. Nii. Nana. Kyu. One, two, seven, and if rumors were true, the Kyuubi's vessel, Naruto, was the strongest of the bunch. Sasuke locked eyes with Gaara, her lips pulling back into a small snarl as he eyed the Ichibi container. Yugito met that spiteful gaze and returned it with a smile of such warmth that Sasuke had to jerk away lest he feel guilt. Puzzled, the buxom blond blinked but said no more when Sasuke refused to meet her gaze, because the poor Uchiha looked as though he were about to crawl out of his skin. All that remained to be seen was the information on those lesser villages, and Sasuke took this opportunity to observe the rest of the rookie Nine.

_'Why the hell is it always me?'_

Surreptiously, Sasuke took in his fellow rookies and wondered how they could be so calm. How they chatted with their fellows, smile, laugh, and exchange idle banter with such ease? Even Sabaku no Gaara, who'd been so brutally bloodthirsty no more than five minutes before, was now watching his brother intently. Watching Kankuro flex and unclench his newly reattached limb, offering a smallest smile of amusement at his lips when his brother commented on the stiffness of the joints.

"Remember that the next time you touch a little girl, Kankuro."

"Eh! It wasn't anything like that, really!"

"That was a joke."

"Huh?" His siblings blinked, disbelieving.

Gaara chuckled, but said no more.

_'Damn them.'_

It was a not quite angry not peaceful expression that he seemed to exude only when around his siblings. They all had someone with whom they could share their troubles. Sasuke had Naruto and he'd Hinata to talk to, but now was neither the time nor the place, because he couldn't bear the thought of exposing his weakness in such a crowded setting. He couldn't. Suddenly, Sasuke was very much alone, watching as all the other candidates chatted and laughed and shared stories in such a way that left him filled with longing. Naruto was easily chatting up the whole of the Rookie Nine, and even Kabuto was willing to interject his opinion as he corrected the redhead's assumptions of those participating. Fu had to be the only other genin not talking, but Sasuke had no desire to bring himself close to that strange and wild child that had so easily influenced his emotions.

Eventually, someone must have noticed something because Sasuke felt a hand on his shoulder. He froze. Hinata had a questioning look in her pearly orbs and Sasuke couldn't bear it. He wanted this damned exam to start already! He could lose himself amongst the rigorous tasks given to them and forget about all of this. That wasn't going to happen, as Sasuke suddenly realized Hinata tugging not on his sleeve now, but Naruto's, ushering the redhead toward Sasuke before he could protest.

"Something wrong?" Naruto inquired, not at all irked as Kabuto carried on the explanation of the exams behind them. "You're looking kinda pale, Sasuke." The Uchiha froze as Naruto placed a hand to his forehead without asking for permission. Sasuke hadn't elected to wear his headband just yet,it was slung over his neck in a way similar to Hinata's, and he'd planned on donning it once the Chunin Exam got into the full swing of things.

_'You...idiot!'_

He was beginning to regret that decision.

"Huh." Naruto muttered, pulling his hand away. "No fever, but maybe we should ask a nurse to examine you just in case-

"No!" Sasuke barked, a bit too loudly. "Er...ah, I mean there's no need for that."

Naruto scratched at his head, puzzled by such bashfulness, following Sasuke's gaze as it twisted aside.

"Her?" Sasuke blinked, mistaking the Uchiha's aversion for a stare toward Temari. "She's...cute I guess."

Sasuke blinked owlishly.

_"What the fuck?"_

"Oho?" Naruto ribbed his friend playfully trying to draw out some form of the old Sasuke from this nervous wreck-in-a-cloak. "You think she's pretty cute, huh?" Hinata bobbed her head in agreement as Sasuke flared an unusual shade of scarlet from head to toe within his cloak and attire beneath._ Bastard...he's doing this on purpose!_Sasuke fixated Naruto with a baleful glare, and Naruto abruptly saw that he might have taken his harmless joke a tad too far, because Sasuke's voice had that strange pitch to it again, the one that seemed to pop up whenever he was flustered.

"Tha-That wasn't what I meant, idiot!"

Naruto burst into laughter.

"I know! I'm just trying to snap you out of that damned funk of yours, Sasuke!"

Sasuke came dangerously close to speaking his mind on said "funk" but at that very moment, Kabuto Yakushi was unfortunate enough to make light of the Sound Village. He probably hadn't meant any insults by it, but apparently the three Otogakure genin in the room did not take lightly to the condemnation of their village. Naruto sniffed, pulled away, and vanished. Sasuke registered a Hiraishin kunai wedged into the floorboards at Kabuto's feet in the same instant that the three sound nin dissapeared.

"Ohayo, minasan."

Whatever that weired mummified guy had been trying to do, it never connected.

Dosu slowed for a pace as a blur of mottled grey filled his vision, enlarging rapidly. Dosu saw it, a blade filling his vision, but his pace was a tad too slow and Kubikiri Houcho was deceptively fast. Dosu crashed to the ground as the tip turned aside at the last second, striking him flat across the face with all the force of a battering ram _instead _of gutting him and spilling his innards across the classroom floor and drenching the tiled patter in his lifeblood.

At the same instant the the third member of the group, a raven haired female, thought to try her luck, Naruto spun and flung what looked to be, for all intensive purposes, a black rod. The slim needles sank into her forearm and she slammed into the wall, dazed. Naruto slapped up a palm in the exact instant that the one know as "Zaku" thrust a palm into his face. Naruto had just enough time to see the air nozzle wedged into the Oto-nin's hand before his world flared white.

"Zakuhya-

Naruto popped into existence behind the Sound shinobi.

"Is that it?" He muttered, flicking a hand around, as though he were throwing a crumpled piece of paper into a trash can. Zaku flew across the room and joined Kin, embedded into the wall in a rather humorous position. A rippling of amusement trickled through the room, coming mostly from the Konoha and Kumogakure shinobi. Naruto lowered his palm, revealing the kunai in his hand. No one laughed as they saw that kunai in his hand, or the yellow streak of light that followed.

Abruptly, he appeared before Kin and Zaku, who had begun to extract themselves from the wall. Seized them by the throat, each. Naruto smiled and locked his hands on their throats for another brief instant, and threw himself onto his back, plucking the two genin from the wall. As he threw himself onto his back the two Oto-shinobi were_ thrown _into Dosu, collapsing in a humliating heap of arms an of legs. Sasuke didn't even blink, and Naruto was in front of Kabuto again, snatching up the kunai and jamming it back into his holster in the same instant that Zakur raised an arm_._

_"What the hell, kid!"_

"It's rude to attack a senpai." Naruto chastised, whipping Kubikiro Houcho around from the decapitating arc for which it was well known. "Especially _our _senpai." In an instant, the room froze. Everyone gawped in disbelif, smiled, or just scowled at the outlandish display of power. If Naruto cared, he did precious little to show it. His teammates were suddenly beside him, and Dosu, his. Not a word was said, nor a threat exchanged as the tension thickened to the point where even those unconcerned became mildly perturbed.

"But if you're that intent on a fight-

**_THOOM_**!

A large explosion of smoke put an end to it.

"Listen up you maggots!" A stern looking man voice announced from the smoke. "If you're going to spill blood, don't do it here." Naruto half turned, annoyance flickering across his features as Ibiki and the Chunin examiners finally appeared in said dramatic plume of smoke. "Especially you, Namikaze." Rinnegan narrowed explosively in protest. "I'd applaud you for protecting you fellow Konoha shinobi but this isn't the time or the place for excessive violence."

"Someties violence is necessary." Naruto replied blackly. "Isn't that right, Morino-san?"

Ibiki chuckled.

"I won't fault you for that." His visage hardened. "But you took it too far."

"Too far?" Naruto returned. "That's your excuse." Hinata watched, horrified as Naruto raised a palm and held it toward Dosu."What if I were to tell you these three weren't what they seem? Would this be excessive, then?" Hinata blinked, and it must have been just that, or did those three suddenly seem tense, somehow. Suddenly, Dosu, Kin, and Zaku were being eyed with intense scrutiny. Naruto smiled, brought his blade around for the kill strike-

And smiled.

"Kidding." Naruto announced suddenly, inclining his head in a low bow as he brought the blade around, chastised."Sorry, Morino-san." He was the picture of innocence again. "I just can't stand to have my nakama harmed." He exchanged a significant glance with Kabuto, the latter breathing a relieved sigh of relief and exhaustion and something else entirely as Naruto offered him a hand. Everyone, it seemed, was none to pleased by the stunt, but all the other villages were eyeing Oto with looks of suspicion and disdain now.

Naruto had achieved his effect, and now he was offering a hand to Kabuto.

"You should have known that would provoke them." Naruto wasn't quite chastising in his rebuke, but that wasn't a nice smile he was wearing. "Kabuto-_senpai." _Suddenly, perhaps it was Hinata's wild imagination, Kabuto-san wasn't Kabuto anymore. He mirrored Naruto's smile perfectly and it felt like two demons were staring each other down. Each grinning, thirsting for blood. None of this lust was directed toward her, but Hinata shuddered all the same.

_'W-What is this ill feeling..._

"I could say the same to you, Naruto-kun." Hinata hadn't the foggiest how one made spectacles look menacing, but Kabuto pulled off suchan expression now. "You nearly ripped his head off back there didn't you?" Naruto's baleful grin was mirthless and a thing of malice and Hinata couldn't bear to look at him in that instant. Sasuke mumbled something obscure and began to lead Hinata away when it became clear that Ibiki wasn't going to repeat the rules he was already announcing to the class.

She blinked and it was gone, as Naruto helped his senpai to his feet.

"Ahaha...gomen." Yakushi relented. "I was overeager, huh?"

"Hey, I wish I could say the same!" Naruto was abruptly that cheerful boy again, without a care in the world. "I almost told a big fat lie back there!" Hinata almost missed that flicker of hesitation that passed through Kabuto's spectacles. But it was there. Maybe that was why Sasuke mumbled a silent prayer under his breath. Perhaps that was why Naruto and Kabuto, just so happened to receive a seat next to one another for this, a written exam.

"A lie, you say?" Kabuto pulled himself into a chair, the picture of calm. "That doesn't sound like you at all, Naruto-kun?" Hinata didn't see Naruto's smile; as her seat was on the opposite side of the hall and thusly she couldn't hear a word they said. She did, however, see Naruto crook a finger towards their senpai, and, after a moment, Kabuto complied. Had she been just a few rows closer she might have heard Naruto's "fib" but she didn't, and she had no way of knowing what was to happen.

"Ah." Naruto crooked a finger, and incredibly, Kabuto leaned closer still. "A little bird told me something interesting, so I made this up myself." Naruto smiled as they were given pencils and instructions, but his attention was not at all on this supposed "do or die written exam" Naruto's smile was very much that of a predator itself now, as he allowed his gaze to slid several rows past Kabuto, upwards to where he could clearly see that freaky grass nin trying to observe their conversation.

What the hell was that weirdo doing now?

_"I almost told everyone that you're a traitor." _Naruto chuckled. "Funny, huh? No one would've believed that, especially after I told them all about your little invasion plan." He tittered softly as Ibiki called for absolute silence. "After all, what you don't know, can't hurt you, neh, Kabuto-senpai?" Kabuto met Naruto's grin witn one of his own, neither willing to show their hand. Each calling the bluff of the other and waiting for one another to fold.

"Quite a tall tale, huh?" Naruto wasn't smiling anymore. "Kabuto-san."

"Quite." Kabuto answered kindly, trying to find a way to silence this breach. "Naruto-kun."

_'So this is the Yondaime's son...huh.'_Kabuto pondered as they smiled at each other with those deathly smiles. _'He's...a bit more imposing than I'd thought him to be.'_Kabuto turned his full attention to the test that really wasn't a test at all, knowing full well what Namikaze had planned once the forty-fith minute elapsed. Kabuto never lost that small smirk as he wrote down the answer, careful not to get them all right, but neither to leave them incorrect, either.

Naruto was doing the same.

"Here's the deal." Naruto muttered at the thirtieth minute. "This plan of yours, it won't work." Kabuto faltered for a moment, but it shouldn't have been noticeable. Naruto hummed softly to himself as he laid his pencil down at the fortieth minute, deliberately folding both arms behind his head. Kabuto finished not a moment later. Naruto was already speaking before Yakushi could voice his next reply as some carefully worded question or another.

"I'll give you an out." Naruto said this as though they were discussing the weather. "Work for me." Kabuto did falter this time, and it was more than noticeable. "I don't know who you work for or why it sees to be so interesting, but I can promise you this. By noon tomorrow, you'll be dead." Naruto glanced upward, noting the forty-fourth minute. "Be my spy. Whomever you work for, I really don't care all that much about them, but its plain as day what they want."

"And that is?" Kabuto spoke flatly.

"Us." Naruto touched a thumb to his chest and flicked a thumb toward Sasuke with such speed that it earned him a tap upon one of the examiners notepads. "You have one hour to make up your mind Kabuto-san." Naruto slammed one foot on his desk, and burst to his feet, in what would be his grandest performance yet. Kabuto didn't even bother to pay any attention towards the commotion he'd caused, he was too busy trying to decipher the note Naruto'd left in his lap.

**Just who the hell do you think I am? **

Kabuto didn't bother to pocket it.

_'Orochimaru-sama...perhaps a change in employ would be best for me at the moment..._

Kabuto adjusted his spectacles and tittered softly as Ibiki revealed that the exam was a sham. They'd hardly lost any but the most inexperienced genin. And there was still more than three quarters of the original class remaining, most of them smirking proudly as the Namikaze revealed their suspicions. Kami the boy was making a name for himself right in front of Orochimaru-sama. Kabuto didn't even bother to warn his master against going after those boys.

He might have scared them shitless, but sometimes...when prey was cornered, and left with no other choice...

_Sometimes the prey became the predator._

It would be interesting to see how those three fought when they were cornered.

_'He's a pretty interesting guy. Namikaze Na-_

He never did finish that thought, as the window burst open and shattered into a thousand shards of glass.

_'Speaking of interesting..._

Without the slightest sentiment of warning, this sudden turn of events was utterly disrupted when a dark something exploded through the window in a peppering hail of glass that narrowly missed the candidates and head examiner. Two kunai were thrown into the ceiling supporting the corners of the unfolding bundle of dark cloth. When the cloth finished unfolding behind the figure straightening up from her landing, it announced in big bold Kanji spiking two feet tall:

**"Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko is here!" **

"Eh?" Was the collective reply.

To say the woman was dressed oddly, even by Konoha Shinobi standards, was to make a massive understatement. She wore a skin-tight metal mesh body suit that ended well above her knees, along with shin guards over her sandals, a very short miniskirt, and a tan, knee-length trench coat. Most of the males were either drooling or out cold from blood loss via nosebleed, the rest, well, the female half of the class was still stuck somewhere between envy and horror.

"Everyone, there's no time to be happy!" She announced, "I am the Second Examiner, Mitarashi Anko!"

"Looks like it." Sasuke slammed his head down upon his desk. "We've got another weirdo."

Hinata was blushing furiously.

"Noisy." Naruto muttered, plucking a shard of glass from his arm. "Aw crap, you ruined my coat, too!" Everyone was more focused on his bloody arm and the huge shard of bloodstained glass, than his poor coat. Anko didn't answer; either this kid had an insane tolerance for pain, or he just liked blood. Either way, that made him alright in her book.

"Hey kid!"

"What?" Naruto didn't even look at Ano, he was to busy pulling all the glass out of his back, and healing, regenerating, much to the (crack much lol) surprise of everyone in the room. She didn't answer, but just frowned at the remaining candidates. "Ibiki," she said out of the corner of her mouth, "why did you let so many pass? The First Exam must have been too soft." She concluded with a glare.

"It looks like there are a lot of good students this time," Ibiki said diplomatically, and Naruto felt the Jonin's eyes lock on him again.

"You going to ask me something or not?"

Anko had the sudden impression that she'd known this kid from somewhere before the exams.

"What's your name?"

"Namikaze Naruto." The redhead yawned complacently as he found the last bit of glass and removed it from his shoulder, the wound already steaming shut behind the shard.

"Minato's kid?"

**"!"**

The silence as all the genin stared at her was deafening.

"...Yes." Naruto's tone suggested further exploration of this path to be most unwise.

"Oh well," Anko said. "I'm going to have to make certain you flunk the next exam, that's all."

Naruto didn't take kindly to that.

_"Try."_ Was all he muttered. "I'll be at Training ground Forty Four."

"Wha- how did you-

_Poof!_

With a plume of white smoke, Naruto dispersed, leaving everyone staring at an empty chair. Three more plumes of smoke followed and now Kabuto, Sasuke, and Hinata were gone, too. Mitarashi Anko already had those furious tick marks plastered to her face...

_'Cripes he's worse than his father...Just for that I'll make certain more than half of these rookies flunk in the next exam!'_

"L-Let's go to the next exam!" she roared raising her fist into the air, to which the entire class blinked. "Follow me!"

No one moved.

_**"NOW!"**_

Abruptly, the classroom was emptied.

**REVIEW! YOU DON'T WANT TO MAKE ANKO ANGRY NOW...DO YOU? XD**


	7. Forest of Death I: Alliance

**A/N: HERE IT IS! The long awaited beginning of the second exam! We're about to witness one of the most INTENSE standoffs in the entire Naruto univerese! Major fights, fails, and falls as of next chapter, which will shot straight through to the end of the second exam. Get ready for major awesomeness in this chapter and the next, peoplz!**

**Let's get started, Dattebayo!**

**(The Forest of Death: Prelude)**

* * *

Cold fury burned the world white.

Naruto stalked out into the drying grass and wanted to hurt someone. He didn't know why, but Anko's words had evoked some primitive surge of anger. He'd been sure to arrive a few minutes ahead of the others, but it wasn't hard to tell that someone was already hot on his heels. Fine. If a certain trio wanted payback, then let them come! Naruto gnashed his teeth and realized that a trickle of Kyuubi's chakra was slipping out again, as he bit his lip.

**"Remeber our deal."**

The moment he touched down, there was only a stench of death and decay. He sniffed, eyes narrowing slightly as he landed just a few moments before the others. He could already feel Anko's chakra racing toward him; likely because she was a jonin and damnably difficult to outrun when it came to a race. Still, Naruto had a moment to take in the scenery, the huge forest walled off by chain-link and barbed wire fences, and today of all days, without a single ANBU at a single gate and not a soul to be seen...

_'I know. Five minutes. Not a second less, do you hear me!'_

Naruto noticed their prescence an instant before they struck. He didn't bother to dissuade them. Didn't warn them of his ill mood. Refused to make them aware, that _he _was aware, of their ill intentions and in no mood for games. He kept his back to them and after a moment of hesitation, yielded to decision he'd made an hour prior. It was laughable, really. Even a babe could detect that m their so-called flawless ambush Naruto chuckled and yielded to the Kyuubi as they swept down upon his head.

**"Yes, yes, now make some room in there!"**

Like all good ambushes, this one came a time and a place where the target least expected it.

It came at _the _most inopportune time and opportunity. It occurred at the moment when its target was at its most vulnerable, his sandals only _just _clearing the branch as he touched down upon the soft grass and regained his bearings. The examiner wouldn't be in any hurry to arrive, not for another three minutes. His back was turned, his attention fixated on the locked _Training Area Forty-Four _dead ahead of them. Their target appeared to be deep in conversation with some unseen entity, and apparently one he disliked intensely at that. Black and condemnatory oaths, the like of which no sixteen year old fledgling should know, drifted towards Team Dosu as they descended upon Namikaze Naruto from behind.

"Remember Orochimaru-sama's orders...we're to test the Namikaze first...

...and _then _the Uchiha." Zaku ravished Dosu with a baleful glare an instant before they burst from their place of hiding. "I know that already!" Naruto's left ear twitched, but there was no way of seeing the sudden motion at this distance. There was no way of knowing, as a brief glimmer of crimson chakra roughened his features, burgeoning his already monstrous power in a sudden swell of sickly sweet euphoria, the euphoria of a creature being given its first taste of freedom for the first time in nearly three months.

_'One...two...three of them.'_

They, the three Sound Shinobi, moved with such speed, such silence, that no man, nor beast, nor creature of this world had any chance of sensing them. Unfortunately, _Namikaze Naruto was __not a man._ _Unfortunately, _Namikaze Naruto had been in the middle of a heated argument with none other than the Kyuubi no Yoko. Unfortunately, for Kin, Dosu, and Zaku, they'd just been sold out by one of their own and their prey, was about to become the predator.

"Hello, love." Naruto didn't even move when Kin rammed three senbon into his spin. "So you're using those damnably difficult needles again, hmm? I thought you'dve learned your lesson... _by now!" _Kin registered only a dull _whump_, as Naruto popped out of existence. She gawped down into the hollow log she had impaled. An unmistakable burning filled her nostrils. A substitution technique with the added benefit of two dozen explosive tags attached, and the kunoichi didn't even have the chance to scream as they simultaneously detonated.

She didn't even see the signs being weaved.

Kin didn't jump.

_She flew._

Kin _flew _out of that roiling fireball, her arms marred with fresh scrapes and burns, her eardrums deafened, leaving her world a soundless blur. She never heard Zaku's explosive shout of disbelief, never felt the hand closing around her throat, until her world inexplicably twisted to the right. Kin couldn't be sure whether she screamed or shrieked as nearly two dozen Anbu converged on her position, to soon to have happened upon the incident by chance, much, much too soon.

"I'm hoping this wasn't Kabuto-san's idea." With a harsh pop, her world exploded into crystal clear clarity. "Because if it was, I'll have to up the deadline." Kin hadn't the foggiest as to what the masked shinobi meant, but when a curt voice waved the Black Ops aside, she sorely wished she did. Another hand closed around her throat, even as the first slipped away. A demeaning chuckled distorted her world as the ANBU faded away, leaving Kin to realize she'd been caught in her own genjutsu.

Her back slammed against the barbed wire gate and a shock of red hair filled her vision. A raised knee drove the wind from her lungs, and hand cast ouward ruined whatever plans her teammates had been concocting. Naruto didn't even blink. He unleashed every ounce of his chakra into the bewildered Sound Shinobi, and blew Dosu and Zaku from their feet as though they weighed no more than a paperweight. He let them twirl in the air for all of an instant, before a violent downward tug brought their resistance to an end.

**_"Ah," _**Kin scowled as a hand turned her head left, right, and left again.**_ "S_o this is the one that caught your eye back there, kit?"**Kin didn't know why, but she bit him. Shaking her head free from this claw that held her, she snapped her head forward, opened her nouth and bit down. _Hard._She tasted blood in her mouth, felt her gorge rise, and swallowed to keep it down. Unfortunately, that ended in ingesting a bit of the boy's blood in her mouth, and now Kin felt sick the instant the trickling of liquid coursed down her throat. It was only a drop, maybe not even that, but the moment she'd given a lurgh of the throat, Kin's entire body erupted into pain.

Kin screamed.

Kin screamed bloody murder, as though all the demons in hell were after her and she couldn't run fast enough. Considering that the foremost of those demons was currently pinning her to a chain link fence, and chatting her up with an almost irreverent sense of calm, the analogy complimented Kin's predicament. She screamed again, a gasping, strangled gurgle as something grabbed her hair tight and hauled her head backward, relinquishing the vice upon the redhead's wrist.

_'Gods...Gods...GODS! It hurts! What the helll...it hurts!'_

Sometime later, it could have been seconds, days, months, or years, Kin realized that he didn't even cry out upon being bitten. Quite the contrary, instead of yelping aloud in pain and disbelief, a pair of slitted red eyes regarded her actions with thinly veiled amusement. **"A little fight in you, eh?"**The redhead capitulated his previous statement with _another _discomforting grin, his ruby and black irises swiveling upon the teeth marks in his hand, the determined lock of the kunoichi's jaw, and the steam rising from his arm as the marks summarily receded into his skin.

**"I like that." **He tittered softly. **"Most kuonoichi are afraid to dirty their pretty little faces during battle."**A notalbe tone entered his voice, something that sounded and felt an awful lot like pride as those furious and rimmed eyes locked upon Kin Tsuchi for the final time. "**You even managed to stomach a bit of the kit's blood just now, though I'm certain we won't be making _that _mistake again now will we Miss Tsuchi Kin-san?"**

Kin felt all the warmth leave her body and bones. Just like that. Gone. As a faucet being stopped up, so too was the witty retort uprooted before it could take root in her mind. She was naked. Clothed, but naked, her armor stripped away and her soul left bare in that instant as that droplet of blood she'd gulped now hit her stomach, striking straight and true with the reality of what this was, what'd she done, and what was about to happen to the foolish attacker swooping down on them from behind.

Naruto blinked and two tendrils of lightning lanced out from his shoulders. Literal lightning, not the sickly crimson energies that swayed and wafted over them, burning Kin and boiling into her stomach and leaving her so helpless to watch as Zaku and Dosu were neatly folded up by two -when the hell did he have the time for seals- Kage Bunshin. The clones simply appeared, landing upon the origin's shoulders and hurtling towards the encroaching Sound Shinobi like an arrow.

Raiton curled into their fists and they went down with a single blow across the head, each. There was no blood, no gore, not even a sound, as the colors and symphonies of the world returned from a brief instant of slow-motion, leaving both Dosu and Zaku in a humiliating heap as Naruto's clones stalked toward them.

_"Don't!" _Kin screamed, but Naruto's laughter drowned her down.

On either side of this redhead, Zaku and Dosu lay, crumpled in broken heaps of bone and flesh. Still alive, yes, but beaten so badly that one would think they'd never move again. One would have been correct in such an assumption, had Team Dosu been from another village. As it were, they were trying to reclaim their bearings by the time Kin realized she was being spoken too. She screamed, struck and shrieked at him, all that she could thing to do, and he ended her defiance within two beats of crimson chakra.

_'Oh no. No. No no no no noooooo..._

The fist brushing up against her ribs did something to her stomach, and Kin lost her lunch in a spray of vommit. It was with small satisfaction that she dirtied his boots with the bile, but if she'd thought to bait the brooding Namikaze, well, then she was going to be dissapointed. His face shifted, blocking her view as the clones set about to mercilessly kicking and beating the living daylights out of the two Otogakure genin, but not before gagging and binding them both.

**"You should feel honored, woman." **His hands snapped outward, and suddenly, another of those terrible black needles found her flesh, prickling the skin just above her left shoulder. **"The kit usually doesn't let me have a say when it comes to choosing our...lackeys." **Rinnegan boiled black and red as _Kyuubi_, not Naruto, but the _Great Kyuubi no Yoko_, glared balefully into the fear ridden face of Kin Tsuchi and savored it as the fires of defiance roared high, sputtered, blazed again, and died utterly.

_'M-Monster!' _

Kin quailed at the sight of this, this abomination that surpassesd Orochimaru-sama in every way imaginable. _'He...He's a monster!' _This was not the quivering little boy who'd been easily startled by her master's chakra and nearly cowed into submission. This was _not _the impetuous youth that preached of peace yet struck out at whomever dared to threaten that peace. This entity, _this being,_she could find no other way to stress its magnificence, surpassed the boudaries imposed upon humanity.

Even Orochimaru-sama, inhuman though he might have been, had his limits.

_But this chakra was still growing._

**"Oh yes. You'll do quite nicely." **Kyuubi snickered. **"That is...if you're willing to cooperate." **

_One minute._

She ticked down the time until the other examiness would arrive.

Naruto didn't budge.

Kin had very long black hair, almost reaching down to the ground, tied right near the end, and black eyes. She wore a forehead protector, a pale green vest somehow similar to a flak jacket, and snake patterned pants and scarf, much like her teammates. Naruto had _her _by the throat, a small smile tugging at his lips as she struggled to unlock the fingers clamping around her windpipe. Eventually, she seemed to realize she could still breathe, and any further attempts to dislodge herself soon proved to be futile.

**"Done?" **He inquired.

Kin muttered something inaudible.

**"I'll give you one chance to surrender; fail to do so and you'll receive no quarter. Renounce your affiliation with the snake and give _me _your loyalty."** His lips were soft against the supple flesh of her neck, his body firm against hers an surging with incredible strength, words drowning amidst the roar in her ears. Kin hung there for quite some time, hesitant, indecisive and uncertain. Her comrade ninja stood lay still and bound for a moment, caught off guard by these words, before bursting into laughter, with the one wrapped in bandages recovering first.

_'W-What?'_

"Tell her we appreciate the offer, but we'll kindly decline." Dosu, the fool! Didn't he know what this was! This wasn't a boy! This was the Nine Tailed Demon Fox! Even Orochimaru didn't have so much as a snowball's chance in hell compared to this creature! Twisting herself so that she might see Zaku and his reaction, Kin silently pleaded with her teammate, _not _from any lingering loyalty to those two, but through sheer fear of watching her own death unfold before her eyes.

This was the Kyuubi!

_'Please, don't! He'll kill you! He'll kill all of us!'_

Zaku was quick to second Dosu's line of thought.

"You can kill her for all we care!"

"IDIOT!" Kin knew that within thirty seconds the examinees would arrive, and Kin knew all too well the importance of that task, yet it still stung the kunoichi to hear those words aloud. Naruto must've seen the waterworks welling up within her eyes, and although she refused to cry, he maintained his grip; slammed her against the wall for a second time. Kin shrieked and kicked at him but she might have struck a stone for all the response he gave, an unyieldingly tough and tightening inexorable vice restricting her trachea.

"Just...Just kill me if you're planning on it already!"

Naruto didn't release Kin.

**"More's the pity."**Kyuubi glanced aside. **"Your friends would have prospered under my reign, but now they're about to meet with an unfortunate accident." **Kin moaned despite herself, incredibly aware of the knee in her pelvis and her stiffening nipples within the soft pillows that were her breasts. Hot. Her face felt incredibly incredibly hot, and that crimson chakra was likely the cause of it, including the unecessary hand at her ass, cupping an indefatigably round portion of her rear; giving it a firm squeeze of appreciation.

Kin gasped aloud.

**"They aren't the brightest of the bunch now, are they?"**Naruto gave a hoarse chuckle of amusement. **_"But you..._for some reason you've made me feel merciful today."**Kin wasn't even sure what merciful meant, if this torment was mercy than she didn't want to see his definition of torture. An incredible warmth poured from her very core, leaving her naked though she was still fully clothed. Such was the feeling of this strange and bizarre chakra, leaving her certain that -had she a mirror handy- her face would be the most intense shade of scarlet and crimson.

**"As I'm sure you've noticed in the last ten seconds." **Naruto glanced askance at her so-called comrades**. "Your master sees the three of you as pawns. I'll be frank about it. You won't be taking another exam, chunin, jonin, in fact you'll never leave the forest of death. You three won't even live to see the end of the month, actually. I'm willing to extend a paw-erm...hand, given that you three have piqued my curiousity."**

"You'd...let an enemy live?" Kin didn't know whether to be humiliated or exhilerated, so she settled for the middle ground. Disbelief was better than the thought of a demon sparing her solely for what he called "breeding stock" or being set free for anything that came out of pity. Kyuubi offered a shrug, and Kin couldn't be certain which was talking, the boy or the demon, such was the constant and altogether strange rasping of the voice rising from those lips

**"Actually, my jailer thought it best to allow you to come to this conclusion pn your own terms, but that's so dull, wouldn't you agree?"**Kyuubi-Naruto chuckled, **"The great "me" would rather just flay you or fuck you and be done with it. BUT **-And here the demon did pause- **But if I let you live...now that would be interesting. Who knows? You might make for good breeding stock, just like that Hyuuga child and Hyoton user the kit seems to be so enamored with."**

Kin didn't answer.

**"What say you, then?"**Naruto leaned forward, breath warm in her face, tantilizing on her tongue, leaving Kin swept up in a roiling tide of emotions she'd never had the time to know. Such feelings she would never know, as she never had in the early days of her youth, as she did now. Kin didn't say anything. She was far too busy straining forward herself, inadvertantly quashing her breasts against Naruto as a result. Of course she hadn't meant to do that; Kin wanted nothing more than her freedom and the chance to get away from all this. For all her bluster and bravado, Miss Tsuchi really, _really _didn't want to die at the tender age of fifteen, or anytime in the near future, for that matter.

It intensified the feeling.

**"Do you see this?"**Kin focused on the kunai as the blond dangled it before her. **"I want you to take it. Also, I'd suggest you _don't _go back to your master." **Naruto was already turning away, leaving the clone to maintain his grip upon their latest captive. **"You three are going to lose this round. Make it look good. If you don't, he'll most likely devour you."**He brandished Kubikiri Houcho, menace filling his features and pervading his grin into a ludicrous sham of its former self.

**"Oh, and one more thing." **Rinnegan filled her vision as the chakra rods were removed. **"Don't dissapoint me, Sound Shinobi!"**

Naruto started laughing in an insane manner, scaring the shit out of everyone. Abruptly the crimson energies were gone and he hurtled Kin toward Dosu and Zaku, both of whom had been swiftly freed from their bonds only moments before. Kin took the blow and rolled with it, knowing full well that the others were within sight; and still more were just arriving. Orochimaru-sama would surely be somewhere amongst them, or did he know that, too?

No, Kin decided. Not yet. The Namikaze knew that they served someone, but he didn't know their identity. Yet. She watched the Hyuuga girl and the Uchiha brat making their way through the rapidly as of yet thinning throng of genin and they too, didn't seem to have a clue as to what their teammate had been doing. She watched him exchange a significantly fleeting look with Yakushi Kabuto. Kami, it had gotten to Kabuto-dono, too? Kin couldn't ever recall having seen him as perturbed as he was now. That Naruto kid...he must've threatened him to force his cooperation. Sure enough, Naruto was reprimanded for his actions by the examiner, but really, what punishment could you place upon a sixteen year old boy with all the powers of a god at his disposal?

_None,_and so Naruto got off scott-free, oh, but not before shooting a withering glare toward a certain Kusa-shinobi. Kin felt a spike of killer intent lance from the boy as he met her master's nonplussed gaze and held it for three consecutive seconds, breaking it only to return towards his teammates with a flippant laugh. Cripes. Perhaps the boy was wiser than he'd let on. Disturbing, considering that only an hour before, he'd nearly pissed his pants just by looking at her sensei.

"I can't believe he did that to us."

Feigning weakness, Kin allowed her teammates to assist her in standing. Zaku was boiling mad, she needed only glance down at his air cutters, see the intermittent jets of steam spraying from them in a wild and sporadic fashion, to know this. Dosu of course, was unreadable. He kept glancing from their disguised sensei to the Namikaze kid, as though he were trying to _determine _something of infinite and unmistakably vital importance. She could see the gears turning in the man's mind, as he struggled to come to the realization that maybe they really were just that. Tools. _Pawns._ Sacrificial pieces to be used and cast aside at their lord's-no, at _Orochimaru's _leisure, in this elaborate little game of chess.

Kin, for the most part, sulked.

_'The truth really does hurt, doesn't it..._

**0o0o0o**

Naruto wrested back his body and was furious. Kyuubi laughed and didn't seem to mind when Naruto chained it down under so many layers of chain and chakra that it couldn't breathe. Then again, the fox was made up of chakra so maybe it didn't need to breathe. Such was Naruto's thought as he flooded the cage in an attempt to drown the beast and the laughter constantly ricocheting about inside his sore skull and battered eyeballs.

_'I hope you enjoyed those five minutes.'_

Kyuubi practically purred.

**"Oh yes, yes I did."**

_'Good because I'm never talking to you again.'_

**"Oh come on, you know you enjoyed _that _as much as I did."**

_'Yes and that's the problem!' _Naruto shook his head to clear his head of _those _thoughts._ 'That's...I...I don't have the time to think about that!' _It'd been a mistake to let the fox have control, but he hadn't had the best mindset at the time. It also didn't help that he was pretty much forming his own small army under the Hokage's nose. Naruto shook his head, swept a hand through his hair, and began to wonder why he hadn't tried cutting it again, as it was nearly last his knees now, yet still somehow managed to stay out of his way during combat.

"Ah, so this is Hiashi-sama's daughter."

**"Him again?" **Kyuubi creaked an eye open. **"Bothersome sannin."**

"Sann-what-now?"

But the fox did not answer, and Naruto froze as he turned and stared into the eyes of death for a second time. Sasuke and Hinata uttered similair sounds of disbelief, but, distanced as they were, they too, were bound by paralysis with little difficulty.

"You!" Was all Naruto managed before his body stiffened. "Shit! This...technique...again-

Kabuto observed the scene from his place in one of the few trees that dotted the surroundings of the Training grounds. _Well, I suppose I should have expected this from Orochimaru-sama._ He watched as Naruto glared bloody daggers into the eyes of his master and was left helpless alongside his comrades. _Let's see if you've got as much bite as you do bark, Naruto-kun._ Yakushi folded himself against the branch and leaned his head agains the trunk, content to observe.

"What do you want?" Naruto hissed, a violent exhalation of breath that was so unlike him, it gave Hinata pause.

_'Something's upsetting him.'_

"How rude." Naruto's snarl was met with a leer. "I was about to have a most enjoyable...conversation you're friend." His eyes slid to Hinata and found nothing but wordless fury there, and Sasuke felt nothing but pride as Hinata met the glare and didn't waver. Naruto couldn't see it from where he stood, but she could already notice the sudden swelling of chakra within his comrades coils. Naruto had something coming, something big, and if he was taking his time like this...

"We're not discussing anything." Naruto might have been paralyzed, but his words were steel. "Kusa-san."

Hinata knew him well enough to know that Naruto was a hairsbreadth from violence. His face drawn into a rictus of fury. His hands wound and unwound unto one another, birthing and unbirthing as he clenched his fists, curled his fingers into claws, and made the fists all over again. His wrought with intense shudders, the likes of which she had seen only once before. _Only once, _when they'd taken their combination jutsu too far and he'd nearly lost control of the monstrosity inside his stomach.

But that had been a month before, and Naruto was much, much stronger now.

His gaze locked upon it...this androgynous..._thing _that'd been leering at them. Rinnegan swiveled, locked, targeted the kusa shinobi, with a terrifying numbness. Naruto wasn't angry. He wasn't angry at all. Naruto was absolutely furious. He stared down the Kusa-nin who'd seemed so amicable only two beats beforehand, and snarled. Hinata hadn't the foggiest as to what kind of gradual grude lay between them, but what he'd say next, would truly leave her forever speechless.

"Touch her and I'll slaughter you."

It smiled.

"Ah, and if you did you'd touch off civil war with my village. Is that what you want?" It asked. Naruto, who'd been on the verge of speaking again, fell silent and Hinata went gray. "Either allow me what I wish, or begone from my sight, impudent child." Naruto's left eye twitched and suddenly, the Kusagakure shinobi crumpled with a series of bloody furrows across his face, neck and chest. Hinata knew that Naruto hadn't moved, and she also knew Sasuke must've used that genjutsu again, because when she next turned, the Uchiha was covering his bleeding iris and whimpering softly to himself from the pain that his Mangekyo Sharingan inflicted upon his sight.

"And...that is?"

"I merely wish to converse." The Kusa shinobi leered/smiled. "Is that so hard to believe-

**"Fuck you." **Naruto felt Kyuubi push another glimmer of chakra through the seal and cursed them both.** "Someone like you has no place in my peace."**

"Still prattling that, I see?" It tsked softly. "I find peace much, much to dull."

**"Then you'll die with all the others who want to watch the world to burn for their own benefit."**

"I thought I recognized that prescence." It scowled abruptly. "Kyuubi."

**"Oh, I'm honored."**

The Kusa-nin was not pleased, but at the moment, its displeasure paled to the baleful wrath that was Namikaze couldn't bring herself to turn, numbed as she was, but Naruto's strangle hiss was answerment enough. Had she been able to see him, she would have seen the Namikaze's eye flare with disbelief and limitless fury. Naruto had those eyes again, and crimson chakra was out of the seal, out as in visible, out as in this weirdo could see it, and it gave him pause.

Almost at once, Naruto drew upon that chakra.

He felt the dread creeping up on him, threatening to paralyze \and bind him, to leave him helpless. _Kyuubi wasn't having any of it._ The kitsune roiled back through the seal with an exasperated sigh, his chakra rushing and coursing through his host, slapping away the paralysis with a contemptible snort. Naruto felt his mouth curve in a defiant smirk. Then came the burn. He couldn't breathe. Within the thick red haze now creeping over his vision, everything and everything suddenly looked like an enemy, something that should not be, would not be, because he couldn't bear to look at his friends with those expressions of confusion and disbelief and-and-and-AND-

_"Yamero!" _With great difficultly, Naruto wrested his conciousness back from the brink and bellowed at the beast. _"Stop! I don't need that much, Kyuubi! My chakra coils can't handle this! _Kyuubi muttered something that sounded like "ungrateful little kit" but he'd already dampened down upon the surge before the cloak could manifest and push Naruto's skin clear off his body. Blinking the blood misting fog away from his pupils, the Rinnegan flared furiously.

"Do you expect that to work a second time?" A black voice that was not his own tittered softly. "Or is that your only trick?" Naruto made a strange seal with one hand, and suddenly, both Sasuke and Hinata found themselves able to move. Freak Kusa-nin over there, he looked none too pleased. But Naruto didn't seem to mind, as he began to unfasten the straps connecting Kubikiri Houco's holster to its new sheathe and harness, something he did with one hand, while twining his fingers into yet _another _seal.

Now it was Naruto's killer intent that filled the air.

"See?" He leered back at the outrageous expression of disgust. "I can do your little trick too, if I want."

Naruto kept the smile and _glared _into the eyes of a demon that _wasn't _sealed into his stomach. Sasuke made a sound of surprise, whirling at the same instant in which Hinata skipped backward, a hand to her face, pearly eyes wide as the Kusa-shinobi retracted his tongue with a wet slurp. "How rude." It pouted. "I was just returning your kunai." Hinata hesitantly, very hesitantly, accepted the slime coated knife and slipped it into her back, but not before Naruto had already jammed his hand inside after it.

"I think we'll pass." he smiled genially, hefting the knife depreceatingly. "That is..._if you don't mind."_

**_Thunk._**

The Kusa-shinobi caught the kunai between two fingers, and suddenly, everything was silent. Sasuke sworem confounded as to how _it _had been able to catch the kunai with less than a yard between the two of them. Moreso, how on earth had he seen that? Naruto was insane when it came to physical strength. A throw like that could have killed old man Sandaime. And yet this...thing had caught it as though the kunai were but a harmless toy. Sasuke shivered as those eyes slid toward him, without so much as a movement of the head.

"Why, whatever seems to be the matter...**Uchiha-kun?"**

Sasuke's hand came up, contemptuously batting the kunai aside with the huge war fan at his back. But in order to do so, he had to lose sight of the Grass shinobi behind the paper rice fabric for just a single second. When next Uchiha Sasuke could see, Naruto was standing to the side of the man/woman, a hand around his wrist. In that same instant, a kunai touched to both his throat and that of a rather amused Kusagakure shinobi. Sasuke exhaled explosively as _another _kunai touched at his throat, and still another to Hinata's.

Mitarash Anko and three Kage Bunshin of Mitarash Anko, each smiled as one.

"Now, I know you're all eager, but lets not get carried away just yet, neh?" Naruto roared and hauled his arm free, elbowing her in the stomach. Anko bent double, clutched at her gut and poofed. So that one was a shadow clone. Sasuke read the furious expression there just before he jerked his head backward, smashing the one holding him by the hair. _Whump._ He whipped around, and smashed his head into her, the violent headbutt jarring and popping a second clone that had him by the hair. Now, with two of her shadow clone popped and both Naruto and Sasuke free, Anko shouldn't have worn a smile, certainly not the smile she usually wore, right?

"Gods, you're slow."

_'When did she-_

Wrong.

Naruto touched a hand to his cheek, irked by the thin slice there. Anko was behind him. Slammed him into a tree. At least that much was what Naruto remembered before she licked the blood from his cheek, and for some reason the feigned intimacy irked him. He had a variety of weapons at his disposal and he settled for the tanto at his hip. White chakra blazed outward. Blood flew. Anko suddenly no longer had a hold of his wrists, and that was good, because Naruto was tired of eating bark.

What wasn't good, was the thin slice he'd split in her cheek, on the same side in which she'd cut him. Naruto reversed the hold, placing the tip of it to her throat in warning, the exact same position he had been in three seconds before. Rinnegan drilled through the thin curtain of crimson and garnet hair that obscurred their faces.

"So you like the taste of blood." Naruto lapped her off the tip of the tanto, hating the tasted, but enjoying the subtle lookf of annoyance that flirted across Anko's features. Better. Naruto popped three catches on the sheathe and jammed the tanto into its holster, and realized all at once that he must have done something to impress her. Surely he must've done _something_, because Anko started too laugh, a gentle shudder running up her back and into his chest.

"Well now, this is an interesting turn of events."

"Go figure." Naruto replied flatly, still unable to see her face but for the flash of white teeth -a smile perhaps- amongst the dark. He was perfectly aware of the three shadows clones at his back, three and then two and now one as five of his own bunshin silence the, bifurcating them neatly across the middle into a thwoom of smoke. Within that sudden smokescreen, Anko moved and Naruto hissed aloud in surprise as she twisted in his grasp, to face him, breaking the skeleton hold he'd over her. Their little hold and reverse hold had probably lasted for all of five seconds, and Naruto failed in the most horrific fashion as something touched his cheek with infinite gentleness, lingered, and withdrew.

The world popped back into focus, _painfully._

**"HA! I knew it'd happen! I knew that crazy woman would do something!"**

For some reason, Kyuubi was laughing its ass off.

"WHAT IN THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR!"

"Good grief you're even more inexperienced than he was." Naruto heard this as his heel crackled outward within a furious scream. "At least he didn't try to attack me after his first kiss." Naruto blinked with a scarlet expression that matched his hair and both Hinata and Sasuke had gone white in rememberance of a certain incident. Naruto filled the air with kunai seconds later, eyes wide and full with disbelief that twisted itself into anger.

_"I'll kill you!"_

_(Sometime later)_

Anko finally untied Naruto five minutes later when he promised not to kill everyone.

"Na-Naruto-kun?"

"Uh." He grunted still white, shuddering from what had happened. "She's craaaaaazzzzzy...

Hinata sighed.

Apparently he'd be out of it for a while longer.

Upon witnessing the death of two kage bunshin, Anko'd bid the others to release Hinata and the Kusagakure-nin. She was still smiling, and Sasuke found that to be rather...unnerving. Moreso when it was the Kusa-shinobi who was chastised, not them, even thouugh they'd been the ones to pick a fight with him. But if her "reprimanding" did anything to slacken that thing's hunger then Sasuke didn't see it. If anything that freak looked like it was even more turned on now that their little squabble had been broke up. Naruto wasn't entirely thrilled about that. He clicked his tongue as they were each "escorted" to the main group, two orbs of rippling violet locking upon their kunoichi examiner, no longer even remotely interested in the very demon that had so startled him from before.

"Come on, kiddies." Anko shooed them out of their shaded clearing. "Stay with the group! Its time for the second exam!"

"Bite me." Naruto spat, still brooding darkly. "You crazy pyscho bi-_**OW!"**_

"Respect your elders, kid." Naruto, surprisingly took the light tap across the head. Granted she'd been behind him and granted he hadn't seen it coming, but he didn't obliterate the entire field as he'd nearly done during practice last month. Sasuke could have sworn that the redhead was blushing under all that gray and black. But -damned wouldn't you know it- the ANBU had arrived and now they were already grouping everyone together to explain the rules. Sasuke couldn't count them all, there were so many, and when he saw the scrolls, and heard the number of them would be more than double the usual number, he felt a cold trickle of dread.

"You said...what?"

Anko, somehow, heard the Uchiha.

"Shaddap and listen, kid." Naruto muttered something that sounded like "dominatrix" and promptly caught a kunai as it whsiked harmlessly into his hand. He stuck out his tongue and made a show of licking the blood off it, something that, oddly enough, intrigued the examiner and few of the other, more bloodthirsty shinobi. Naruto noticed all the stares, including the baffled ones from Sasuke and of Hinata, and winked conspirationally at them before riveting his attention back to the scandalously clad kunoichi.

"Talk already." Naruto taunted. "We haven't all day-

"OH SHUT UP!"

"This is where the second exam will take place: the forty-fourth training area, also known as the Forest of Death," she explained in a casual, yet creepy voice.

Some of the candidates murmured at that.

"You will soon be able to experience why this place is called the Forest of Death," she continued happily. "But before we begin the Second Exam, I'm going to pass these out to everyone." With that, she pulled a thick stack of official looking forms out of her trench coat. "These are consent forms. Those taking the exam must sign these."

"Why?" several examinees asked.

"From here on, people will die," she replied in a casual tone. "Therefore we need people's consent before we continue. Otherwise, I'd be held accountable." She ended with chuckle, but no one else seemed to find her words funny. Naruto considered the likelihood of hitting her with a kunai at this distance, and, reluctantly, decided against it.

"Now, I will begin to explain the second exam," she continued after a moment. "To be brief, this is going to be a survival test." She handed the stack of forms to Hinata, who took one and handed the stack to Naruto, who took a pair for himself and Sasuke before handing the rest to Yugito. She smiled and Naruto flushed lightly before jerking his gaze in the opposite direction, or perhaps that was because the blond had brushed up against him just now?

Anko rolled her eyes.

"This area," she explained as she unrolled a map she'd pulled out of her trench coat, "is a circular region surrounded by forty-four locked gates. In addition to rivers and forests, there is a tower in the middle. It's around ten kilometers from any entrance to the tower. Inside this area you will have to fend for yourselves as you battle over these scrolls," she explained, pulling two sealed scrolls from inside her trench coat as she replaced the map. Naruto wondered briefly why on earth she wore such a thing in the first light-colored scroll displayed the kanji for 'Heaven', while the darker-colored one displayed the symbol for 'Earth'.

"Forty-Six teams passed the First Exam," Anko explained. "Half of those teams will get the Heaven scroll. The other half will get the Earth scroll. Each team gets one scroll." She grimaced at it, the thought of having so many shinoib in one forest at one time, most of whom, would gladly kill one another. Naruto was smirking, and the other three Jiinchuuriki wore similair expressions of amusement or satisfaction. She'd probably see all four of those damn gaki's, including Minato's kid, in the Finals at this rate, especially once she gave them the rule of keeping their teammates in one piece...

"What is needed to pass?" Sasuke asked in a serious tone, making several people look around. Kin inadvertantly made the mistake of glancing toward Naruto. She, Dosu, and Zaku, each saw that look in his eyes and came to their own conclusions by the time the examiner had found her voice again. Naruto would only smile in their direction after that, as if to remind them of what lie ahead, should they make the wrong decision.

"Bring the Scrolls of Heaven and Earth to the tower with your teammates," Anko answered.

"In other words, fourteen teams, half the people here, will get their scroll stolen and therefore fail," Sakura said thoughtfully.

"It also needs to be done within the time limit," Anko added. "This Second Exam has a time limit of one hundred twenty hours, or exactly five days."

"Five days?" Ino asked, incredulous.

_"Perfect."_ Fuu licked her lips, and the crowd seemed to draw back from her, just a bit.

Sakura only smiled as she exhcanged a knowing glance with Kiba and Shino, both of whom, nodded slightly.

"What about food?" Chouji asked, horrified.

"Scrounge it up yourself," Anko said in a dismissive tone, "This forest is a treasure box of nature. There should be plenty of food." Naruto had a feeling that Team Ten hadn't taken a look at a map, or realized the implications of the training area size, until now.

"However," Kabuto added helpfully, "there are a lot of man-eating beasts, poison bugs, and poisonous plants." Naruto slid a gaze toward Kabuto at that moment, and he was almost certain that he checked his watch just then, but the significant glance was overshadowed by a big-boned Akimichi's cry of dismay. Both traitor and Namikaze heir sweatdropped at the boy's rather...dimsal reaction.

"Oh no!" Chouji murmured as Ino scolded him.

"This test seems quite difficult," Lee said with a grin that made his teeth gleam. Neji gave him a dirty look while Tenten sighed. She spared a glance at the Namikaze kid, and wondered just how capable he was of wielding that blade...and slammed the lid down on her thoughts before they could go any further than THAT. Neji noted the blush and spared Team Seven his most ridiculing glare, which, of course, they ignored competely.

'Yosh!' Lee pulled a hand into a fist. _'I will be certain to succeed so that I may renew my youthful vows with Naruto-kun!'_

Inexplicably, Naruto shuddered in disgust.

_'Damnit Lee...Yuck!'_

"And we're surrounded by enemies," Yugito added thoughtfully. "We won't be able to sleep in peace." A significant glance to Sabaku no Gaara wasn't missed, nor was it ignored by her team members, a rather anxious looking blond Atsui and in complete opposite to her brother, nochalant Samui. Gods, the girl hadn't said but a word the entire day, but she kept glancing toward Naruto as though she wanted to be certain he was still there!

"That's him?"

Yugito blinked as her gaze slid toward Naruto.

"Yes, that's the Namikaze, why do you ask?"

"N-No reason."

Yugito smiled, noted the light flush adjourning her cousin's face.

_'Oh, so now she speaks..._

"SH!" Atsu promptly hushed both Yugito and his sister. "Both of you tone yourselves and your hotness down! I can't hear a word their saying!"

"People will get hurt in the process of fighting over the scrolls," Anko said, "and those who cannot deal with the difficulties will be revealed."

"So can we forfeit if that happens?" Shikamaru asked.

"As a rule, you are not allowed to give up during the exam," Anko announced. "You will spend the full five days in the forest."

"EH!"

"Just as I thought," Shikamaru said with noticeable disgust in his voice. "How troublesome."

_'Is that all he ever says?'_ Temari sweatdropped.

"Yes!" Kurotsuchi pumped her fist furiously. "This. Is. Easy!" Sasuke eyed the hyperactive and bothersome girl warily, noting that she hailed from Iwa. Gods, this was going to be a pain in the rear, wasn't it? Her teammates didn't look anything but imposing either. Still...the way that damnable girl was prattling on and on as if she owned the place...

_'Damnit, stop! Stop stop stop!'_ Sasuke rapped one hand across his skull as he glanced away and back toward Naruto. _'Focus, Sasuke! Focus!'_

"While we're on this topic," Anko continued, ignoring the Nara boy and the Uchiha who seemed to enjoy hitting himself over the head, "here are the conditions that will fail you. First, if you do not arrive at the tower with three teammates and both scrolls, you fail. Second, if your team loses a member, you automatically fail. Finally, you are not allowed to look inside the scrolls until you reach the tower." Several murmurs trickled out at that moment but Gaara was grinning and THAT left Sasuke shuddering until another redhead abruptly piped up.

"What happens if we do?" Naruto asked flatly.

"Then you will get a _surprise_," Anko promised with a nasty smile. "If you become a Chuunin you'll be handling top secret documents. It's a test of your reliability. That's it for the explanations, all of you! We will exchange three signed consent forms for one scroll over in that hut." Naruto's gaze slid to where she was pointing, saw it was manned by several Chuunin proctors, some of which he easily as the very ones who'd issued their test prior to the last few hours.

"After you are assigned a gate entrance," Anko continued, "everyone will begin at the same time." She sighed gustily. "Here's a last piece of advice: Don't die!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fists.

"Alright, then."

"A bit eager, aren't we?" Kabuto smiled nonchalantly as he sidled up to the redhead, with Haku beside him. Naruto made a show of scratching at his head and sticking out his tongue. Haku gave them her best wishes, and then Team Kabuto was headed for the ever growing line, but not before Kabuto managed to pass a small slip of paper toward Naruto, hidden withing an affectionate pat-on-the shoulder, something a senpai would give a much younger student.

"Let's do our best then, Naruto-kun."

"We plan to." Naruto grinned, taking the note without a blink of his rippling eyes.

Within seconds, they were amongst the others again, and in line.

Alone again, Hinata realized that Naruto was glaring at the slippery shinobi aggain. There was malice in his eyes now, now that Anko-sensei wasn't anywhere to be seen, now that he could easily take his revenge for the actions in the clearing. Hinata feared that he would, and she feared that Sasuke would be inclined to assist him in that effort. This was her first time meeting this strange and sneering shinobi, but she disliked him already, and for Hinata to dislike someone, well, that spoke volumes of this ones character.

Moreso when Naruto replied to his earlier comment.

"If you lay one fucking _finger _on Hinata-chan...I'll kill you." He would, too. Hinata saw the Rinnegan snap into slits of bloody iris and sclera, and she knew in that instant, Naruto would kill for her if this man endangered her life. Oddly enough, Hinata wasn't frightened, though she should have been. The old Hinata would have been quivering in her boots by now; because the new Hinata, just had to blink once, twice, a total of three times, before her fears washed away and left her in a pool of crystal clear calm and serenity.

She took two long strides forward, shattering the tension without a word.

"Oho?" The Kusa-shinobi was speaking, but Hinata didn't listen, and she refused those poisonous words that filled her with fear and nameless dread. Hinata didn't even look at her teammate; she just raised her palm toward a stunned Naruto and stared at the foreigner, unblinking. She settled her face into that hardened mask of pride and arrogance as she'd been taught, and let her voice take on a hard, biting edge that brooked no argument; one she was sure her teammates would both know and understand.

Enough was enough.

She reached through the curtain, exchanged the waiver for a scroll, and jammed it into her pack. When she emerge, she was

"We haven't the time for this." She spoke flatly. "All of you, stop acting like children, and settle your differences in the ring." When she said this, Hinata did not turn, she instead jammed one arm, finger forward, to the forest behind them, rimmed off with all sorts of mesh metal, barbed wire and locked gates. "You," She thrust her gaze and her voice upon the Kusa-shinobi, "You will stop these childish taunts and jibes, that is, unless you wish to to arouse the wrath of the examiners and risk expulsion." When his face began to twist into another sneer, she put an end to it. "My father would be most, _displeased_, should you do anything to interfere with this exam, or do you not know who my father is, Kusa-shinobi-san?"

"You've quite the sharp tongue, I see." Now its expression was outright displeasure. "I'll look forward to breaking you."

"I'd welcome the opportunity to do the same to you." Hinata snapped back in a rare flash of fury.

Hinata _felt _the shock appearing on the faces of Naruto, Sasuke, and the Grass shinobi.

_If you cannot defeat an opponent through strength and chakra alone, my daughter, then you must learn to use the silver tongue of your people._

Hinata was about to discover whether or not she posessed the silver tongue of her clan.

"I'm terribly sorry, we must be going." Hinata didn't let the smallest iota of fear sink into her voice and suddenly, that leer held no power. "I wish you the best of luck in this exam." Hinata's courtsey to the Kusa-shinobi was icing on the cake, and by the time she'd straightened, it was staring as though the world would end tomorrow. "If you'll excuse us." Hinata endowed her face with a small smile at the end, knowing that the throng of genin and chunin would see it and make their own interpertation. Silently, Hinata offered thanks to her mother. Even in the afterlife she'd unintentionally helped her daughter make a fool of one of the most dangerous shinobi in existence, thanks to memories of her wit and tactful brilliance.

"Shit." Sasuke breathed to himself.

Hyuuga Politics really _were _good for something, after all. Hinata had just successfully disengaged herself from the enemy, and if he tried to reengage, the boys, most of whom were terribly smitten with her behaviour already, would instantly take offense, genuine or no, in hopes of glimpsing another such smile. In short, Hinata had made a host of allies in exchange for earning herself a very loathsome and much-too-pretty-to-be-a-male, enemy. She could feel approval radiating from a number of female kunoichi -even Examiner Anko appeared markedly pleased- and it took all Hinata had not to blush, for that would break the facade. Such was the way of the shinobi, always looking underneath the underneath. Hinata never even considered the possibility of winning a war through words, but she'd just won herself a very important battle.

She allowed herself the briefest moment of satisfaction.

_'I...I can't believe I just did that.'_

Now she just had to get Naruto-kun away from this monster.

"Naruto-kun." She reached for him shoulder, her fingers hovering just over the edge of the folded leather. "Let's go." Incredibly, Namikaze Naruto obeyed. He turned, spat at the Kusa shinobi with dual one fingered salutes, and promptly marched after Hinata, streaming curses as he went. By the time he'd drawn within her personal space, his littanny of loud language had ceased entirely. Hinata gave a small smile, just as Kakashi had suggested, and abruptly, Naruto wiped the scowl from his face with a mumbled apology, one that Hinata instantly forgave.

"I really don't like that guy." Naruto muttered. "Really, I don't."

"Agreed." Sasuke's retort was little more than a groan. "We need to do something about him."

"Tell me about it." Naruto was shaking his head furiously back and forth. "That trick of yours is the only thing that seems to slow him down."

"It's not a trick!" Sasuke's voice crackled on an exceptionally high note somewhere in the background. "Its genjutsu, idiot!"

"You know what I mean!"

Hinata sympathized, but she wasn't looking at him. She'd kept her Byakugan active, and wisely so. The Kusa shinobi took a small step after them, noticed the heated glares from all the males, and saw that he/she'd been tricked. She could see in his face the desire to pursue, but as a few Amegakure genin slid forward, it was instantly quashed. Hinata couldn't believe it. How had she done that? With a batting of the eyelashes a quiet smile, and humility, she'd just driven off a far superior opponent. Her beauty and quiet humility might've saved them this time, but she had no doubt that this wasn't over, if not in her mind, than certainly not within the Kusagakure faction.

It was only when they were out of earshot that the heiress allowed her shoulders to slump. Unintentionally, she'd assumed the stiff, rigid posture of most Hyuuga woman; stiff upper chin, arched back, and straight shoulders, all in such a way that it drew naught but positive attention toward her. She may have looked meek, but Hinata's training had been more of the mind than of the body. While her Jyuuken had improved by leaps and bounds during relentless training with Maito Gai -Hinata swore she'd never had more bruises in her life- the majority of her time, when not improving upon her team techniques with Naruto and Sasuke, focused on preparation of the mind.

Granted, she'd had a bit of help from Yamanaka Ino and a few other kunoichi, but an improvement, no matter how measuredly small, was still an improvement. That Hinata could stand to be in Naruto's prescence and not faint was already nothing short of miraculous. That she could stare down someone like _that_, someone who'd left both Naruto and Sasuke paralyzed with a single glance, only to turn around and _walk away, _brought Hinata a feeling so incredibly beyond words that she didn't bother to find them.

"I think I can understand now." Naruto seemed to stiffen as she graced him with a small, albeit only slightly shy, smile. "Why he frightened the two of you so easily." Naruto blinked, pouted, and almost immediately started to protest that wasn't afraid. Hinata knew he was lying for her sake instead of his own, but she stll smiled and a few blustering remarks later, and Naruto seemed to have eked out most, if not all of the tension that had plagued him.

"So...yeah." He finished lamely.

Hinata stifled a giggle at his comment. Naruto laughed, but suddenly seemed to realize his self-restraint wasn't perfect, as an extremely loud snort escaped from her nose. He froze, mortified, as Hinata failed to stifle her ensuing bout of laughter, to which his Rinnegan flared wide open disbelief. Sasuke looked as though he too, were on the cusp of hysteria. Naruto glared at them both, unable to hold a straight face as Sasuke started to snicker to himself.

Hinata burst out laughing.

"OI!" Naruto yelped. "It wasn't...It wasn't that funny!"

Hinata really wanted to stop laughing, but she just couldn't! Ever since Naruto's awakening she'd had a hard time earning more than a gentle smile, or amused twinkle in his eyes. Even those moments had become rare in recent months, and Hinata just couldn't bear to keep silent when he made that odd noise of muffled laughter from her normally severely refined teammate_. It was priceless._ Perhaps even the reason why Naruto wasn't protesting anymore, either.

Sasuke was laughing too, genuinely laughing for the first time since...well, Hinata hadn't heard him laugh like this ever.

Hinata was grateful that they'd gone _out _of hearing distance, because she had to double over and it was a few moments before she could even stand up again. "G-Gomen, Naruto-kun." She silenced at last a stray giggle that escaped her lips and pulled herself into a hurried bow before her embarassed teammate. Sasuke was still clutching at his side, but he flushed lightly when Naruto ravished him a baleful glare and a half, before also muttering that he'd be sorry...if Naruto wasn't a straight-rulered-know-it-all.

That might have got them going again, if Naruto hadn't been smiling as well.

"Hinata?" he asked, his curiosity seeming to override his embarrassment for the moment.

She gave them her widest smile.

"I'm sick of being a disappointment." She said suddenly, not knowing why, only that these were her words, and she'd said them. "I know that I'm not as strong as you or Sasuke-kun, but I'm still a part of Team Seven, aren't I?" Naruto bobbed his head firmly to this, but Hinata daren't look him in the eye, lest she falter. "I just want all of us to do our best and look back on days like this when we're not Genin anymore...and smile, knowing that we always did our best."

Just like that, he was calm. The Hyuuga heiress would've been surprised, had she not been so desperate to distance herself and her beloved from this perverse person. She hadn't touched Naruto, yet he complied, turning in kind with her, not walking in front of her or behind her, but beside, beside Hinata. They matched each practically _almost _pace for pace, and as such, Hinata wasn't at all prepared when the uncharacteristically calm redhead inexplicably took her hand and held it within the folds of his cloak.

Sasuke arched an eyebrow.

Hinata _squeaked._

"N-Naruto-kun...?"

"Thank you." Hinata nearly paused, such was the animosity eked from his voice. "Thank you so much for stopping me back there." Yet his grip was firm. Gentle, as though he knew he'd hurt her, should he squueze too tight. Hinata risked a glance at him, Byakugan actice. She gasped. Naruto's chakra coils bled red chakra, and she couldn't even detect his usual, true blue. It was with a sick, twisted cry that Hinata realized how close he'd come to getting himself killed before the exams even began.

Incredibly, it began to recede. For every second that he held onto her hand the blue beat back the red with renewed ferocity. Within moments, Naruto's chakra coils had returned to their original shape and size, leaving the redhead furtively holding her hand and starting to draw some much unwanted attention. Sasuke had the audacity to _snort_, though whether from frustration, indignation, or maybe even something else altogether, Hinata would never know, as Naruto chose that very moment, the very instant in which the Uchiha turned aside in preparation to stalk off and skulk for some strange and unknown reason, to let go of Hinata's hand and fling an arm toward Sasuke.

_Both _of them yelped.

"O-Oi! What the hell are you doing, d-dobe! D-Don't hold me like that!"

"Na-Naruto-kun!"

Both Hinata and Sasuke found themselves simulatenously drawn into a Namikaze Naruto Group Hug no Jutsu. Naruto laughed, heedless of the sputtering and blush and initial protests given. Both soon realized he wasn't going to be letting go anytime soon, even as the slightly taller redhead practically crushed them both. Hinata was certain she was going to faint again. Sasuke...well if looks could kill and for an Uchiha they could, then Naruto was wise to avoid the baleful glare directed upwards at him.

"Bwah, I love you guys!"

He only crushed them tighter for a moment, and abruptly the vice lessened.

"Let's be sure to make chunin." He grinned. "All three of us."

Hinata, her cheeks a flaming rosy red, nodded gently. There could be no words to describe her feelings. Sasuke's blush was a good deal brighter, but he gave his assent as well. The Uchiha was loathe to even breathe, such was Naruto's contagious enthusiasm, so...eventually, Sasuke just nodded in affirmation.

"You fucking idiot." He muttered. "D-Don't do weird stuff like that!"

Naruto wasn't listening.

"YOSH! Naruto pounded one fist against his chest, and spun around, taking point. "Which gate is ours!" A chunin indicated one, and Naruto laughed as he saw the number. Hinata peeked past him and Sasuke past her, and soon, ironically, incredibly, all three were laughing to the point of tears. The chunin couldn't understand what was so amusing, nor could anyone else as one by one, the gates did fling themselves open and open the path to the Forest of Death.

The gate was numbered with a bright red SEVEN.

"Let the Second Exam...BEGIN!"

Anko signaled for their gate to open.

Naruto flattened himself into a runners crouch.

"First we find the high ground." He reminded Sasuke, handing a Hiraishin kunai to the Uchiha, and another to Hinata. "See you up top, guys." With a rush of bitter cold air, their gate flung itself open. In all of an instant, Team Seven was gone into the darkness, vanishing in the instant that Naruto hurled a kunai forward and toward the uppermost branches, while simultaneously locking one arm around Hinata's waist, and then Sasuke's despite the latters protests.

And with a streak of golden light, they were gone into the darkness.

**A/N: HOPE YA'LL LIKED THIS ONE I TRIED TO MAKE IT MORE FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND I'D LIKE TO THINK I SUCCEEDED. WE'LL HAVE SOME CRAZY WILD INTENSE BATTLES BEING BATTLE NEXT CHAPPY SO STAY TUNED EVERYONE! READ AND REVIEW OR KYUUBI'S COMING FOR YA! XD**


	8. Forest of Death II: Whisper of the Beast

**A/N: Okay, really? Todays Q&A will address a very important matter. Naruto and crew did NOT, NOT, _NOT _enter the forest of death until the end of the last chapter. To those few who did not understand that, well, too bad you didnt read closely enough. so enough of that! I went out of my way to make it blatantly clear, that all the events prior to, and including the standoff with Orochimaru, explanation of the rules, EVERYTHING, took place outside, and then it is clearly stated at the END of the chapter, that the SECOND exam had begun. For all of ya'll that already knew this, my deepest apologies for explaining it and taking up your time XD.**

**Anyway, thank u SO much for all the love this story has been getting! Thank you! Thank you all! And if any of you have a hankering for Bleach, be sure to check out "Snowfall" and "Catalyst" they're the other projects I am focusing the majority of my time on at the moment, seeing as I've FINALLY gotten a vacation from my job. FURTHERMORE! We're going to see a rare fight here that will remind ya'll that this story is AU! If, for any reason, Naruto, Gaara, etc, any other mani character, has brief moments of WTF and actual lucidity in the chaos of this chapter, well, there ye be.**

**Now lets get this party started, dattebayo!**

**(Whisper of the Beast)**

As a rule, Killer Bee composed a new rhyme for _every _village he visited. When he'd visited all the villages, he started spitting out new lines for every location within those villages. Now, toe-tapping and a-rhyme-a-rapping just weren't working anymore! This damned room was too cramped! To drab! To dull! No style! Not enough flair! Such were the thoughts of the Hachibi's jinchuuriki, the great -and self titled- Lord Killer Bee, as he bounced back and forth in the waiting room of the tower located in the midst of Training Ground Forty-Four, also known as the Forest of Death.

"Orokamono-ya orokamono-me!" **(Fools ya fools!)**

Furthermore, these fools and dis' place were crampin' his style! Bee bounced around the enclosed room within the toward, bored beyond his limits, and rhyme starved out of his living mind, yo! He felt the occasional tremor through the floor. Yugito or one of _them _must've run into each other. He jotted down another ryhyme on his pad as the line came to him, before resuming his wild and chaotic tour of tower's interior. Utterly ignorant to the chaos and the destruction he ws causing. Most of his fellow Jonin watched Killer Bee with disbelief or thinly veiled annoyance.

Kakashi sweatdropped.

"Ahaha, Bee-san, perhaps you should remain calm until your students arrive...

"Calm!" Kirabi retorted. "Kono Yarō baka Yarō urusai damare!" He rapped-a-rhymed. "Something big's going on there outside them doors, and you want me to be sittin' still, fool ya fool?" Kakashi blinked as another faint tremble rumbled through the tower walls; to which a few jonin gnashed their teeth. There really were some promising candidates this year. Hopefully, none of them were _anything _like this rambling and rhyming Jonin that refused to sit still for more than five seconds.

"Somethings goin' down, yo!" Killer Bee threw his arms downward in delight. "Those gaki's be about ta be beatin' da crap outta someone, yo!" Kakashi soon deemed the man hopeless and returned to reading his porn. Gai had been right, this man was far to strange for him to ever hope to understand. Ultimately, the task was left to Yuhi Kurenai, who, unlike her male counterparts, approached Kirabi and his strange way of speaking with a great deal more pleasantness than gruffness or enthusiasm.

"And who might that be?" She inquired of the Kumo-nin. "Killer Bee-san?"

"Fools ya fools!" Killer Bee threw up his arms in a broad-shouldered shrug. "How am I 'sposed ta know! Ya've locked me in this tower and I canna go, _oh no!" _The kunoichi arched a delicate brow. And she'd thought Kakashi and Asuma were odd; this one took the cake. He spoke in riddles and rhymes and said he couldn't waste time? _Oh dear. _She'd best disengage herself from this fellow; there had been enough damage done to her grammar and patience today already, and she could feel a few choice words coming to mind; she'd noticed their stares boring into her backside.

_'You three..._

"Well...that's nice." She felt her left eye twitch slightly. "Now if you'll excuse me," She noted Bee's reaction, those opaque sunglasses leaving her face for the first time since she'd spoken to him, sliding to the faces of Kakashi, Asuma, and Gai. _Notable. _The entire time, Kurenai had become increasingly aware that the sunglasses hadn't left her face. Not for a moment. Funny, she could feel multiple sets of eyes boring into her hips and other proportions upon her backside, and she could _count _on her fingers and toes the number of them, but this strange fellow seemed quite content. There was not so much as a hint of anything that might bespoke of lust within his visage, as opposed to glancing first at her breasts or her figure or every other part of her before the face.

"Dem dinky lil' flirts," Bee chimed plesantly. "Looks like dey 'bout ta get _hurt."_

_'Oh, so now he makes sense..._

It was a shame she wasn't interested in him. He was one of the few men who _hadn't _oggled her body before speaking. Most males had an annoying tendency to speaking with their eyes before they thought with their lips, and this foreigner was one of the glaring exceptions to the rule, or so it would seem. Kurenai was already apologizing for her rudeness and gliding away from the Kumo-jonin as she followed this thought through to its inevitable conclusion. Out of all the men in Konoha she could name only two _shinobi _who'd ever met and _maintained _honest eye contact with her for the length of any decent discussion. The firstwas the Sandaime, much to old to have even a hint of those desires. The second. Oh my. She nearly _stumbled _as the absurdity of it struck her mightily. The second was...

The second was Namikaze Naruto.

Allowing a respectful bow as opposed to a curt nod, Kurenai promptly made a beeline toward Asuma. Unfortunately, he suffered the unfortunate happenstance of uttering a perverted giggle whilst he afforded himself a quick peek over Kakashi's shoulder, gaze tracing lazily through the jonin's accursed book of perversion. Kurenai felt a sudden flicker of irritation, and her heel crackled out in a blur of white and crimson that no one had any chance of dodging and dealt as much damage as an enraged kunoichi could.

Asuma wheezed and Kakashi only spoke after Kurenai was no longer within range.

"You have my pity, Asuma."

"A very youthful kick indeed." Gai nodded firmly. "Do not underestimate her, my rival!"

"I'm sorry," Kakashi looked up from his book and blinked. "Did you say something?"

Gai gawped.

"OH MY GOD!"

All of the men seemed to be in agreement upon this, save for one.

"Fools ya fools," Killer Bee folded his arms and lamented their blatant ignorance "There ain't nothin ta know! Da way to a woman's heart is through her soul, yo!" He laughed softly to himself and wrote down another ryhyme as it came to him, utterly forgetting the plight of the genin outside the tower as they fought for their lives and their fate. One of whom, was now intertwined with that of a certain genjutsu mistress...

* * *

_(Meanwhile and currently)_

Inexplicably, Naruto sneezed.

"ACHOO!"

_'Okay...that was weird.'_

Then he locked an arm around his teamates, just before the gate flung itself open.

"Here we go!"

In a flash the three of them were through the gate. Hinata thought the word flash was a nice touch, considering that an instant after Naruto wrapped an arm around her and Uchiha Sasuke, the world flashed out of existence. Hinata felt her consciousness blurring, twisting aside, and her vision cleared for a moment. She couldn't help herself. Hinata laughed. Naruto failed to dismiss his own smile, too, as the three of them _-Sasuke still mildly displeased by the grip_- hurtled into the forest as though all the village ANBU were hot on their heels. Ironic, considering one of them had successfully outrun said elites on more than one embarrassing occasion.

"See you up above," Naruto grinned aabruptly, and that grin gave Sasuke and Hinata pause. He couldn't possibly...he wouldn't! They exchanged a glance as a gleam of gold and silver caught their eyes and captured their attention. Transfixed, Hinata watched a flicker of chakra surge through Naruto's muscles; to which he snapped his head downward. Glaring at the oddly placed kunai adjourning most of his chest and right shoulder, Naruto opened his mouth as though to speak, and Hinata heart something that sounded a great deal like:

_"Mmmph hurmph."_

_This _is what he actually said:

_"Hold on." _Naruto murmured, pulling a kunai from the holster on his chest, with his teeth. _With his teeth! _Hinata blinked with a blush as Naruto clamped down upon them both. With a twist of the head, he flung the Hiraishin kunai into the canopy, towards an impossible vector. Hinata felt her vision distort for a _hairsbreadth of a heartbeat_, then the world became frighteningly clear. They were ascending through the branches at a speed no human could hope to produce. None, save the Sandaime, should be able to move with such agility. Certainly not a heavily armed sixteen-year-old carrying both his teammates as though they were luggage.

Well...except that Naruto was doing just that. As his first chakra-assisted leap _flung _them up into the canopy and beyond, Hinata really didn't have much of a say in the matter. A soft _squeak _burst from her lips and then they were gone, her disbelieving yelp and Sasuke's disbelieving yowl of surprise; echoing into nothingness. Had anyone been present to witness it, they would have heard it expressed as a muted shriek of surprise pursued by a rather femine sounding exclamation.

Such was the burst of raw physical power sent Team Seven hurtling into the treetops. Hinata squealed. Sasuke yelped. Naruto cackled like an uncared demon, elllicting a shudder from those who heard the convocation of simultaneous sounds. Most shuddered and decided that perhaps they should find an easier target. Only one smiled with that sickening serpentine smile. Only _it _turned for the source of the sound, uttering a perverse chuckle; not the sound of human laughter, but the moan one might expect upon the crest of an orgasm.

"Ah," It hissed. "So the prey wants to play, do they?"

**0o0o0**

Miles away from the disgusting creature whoe bore the Kusagakure headband, Namikaze Naruto grinned. He barreled headlong into the gale force winds his lunge created, while Sasuke squirmed uncomfortably and tried to prevent himself from being pressed too close to the redhead for some reason or another. Naruto _laughed. _Sasuke snarled. Hinata shrieked, though not in protest as they cleared another bough.

It was with delight, and it did nothing to dim the irritation flecking across the Uchiha's features, painting a mask of annoyance where there should be none.

"H-How much longer are you going to keep running like this, _idiot!" _Naruto met the stammer with an effortless smile toward Sasuke, eliciting the aforementioned insinuation that he lacked the capacity to consider the consequences of their sudden flight. Sasuke blushed the lightest possible shade of pink adjourning his features as Naruto reminded them they were _really _almost there. Gazing into their faces and those expressions of boundless confidence, of excitement veiled behind a thin venier of anger and painted irritation, Hinata smiled. Maybe she ought to say something, _anything,_and attempt to ease the slighted Uchiha out of his sullen mood.

Her thoughts betrayed her, and Hinata snorted. _Snorted!_ Both boys blinked, their argument dissolving with their annoyance of one another as their oftentimes shy and silent teammate uttered the soft and _very _unlady-like snort. Naruto turned to spare Hinata an arched an eyebrow, instantly reminded of his previous embarrassment. She began to giggle softly still, unaware that both teammates, their visages riveted with attention, were looking directly at her downturned expression, trembling as she was with the subtle warmth and elation that she had such friends.

_'Hokage-sama...I'm really..._really _glad you made me a part of Team seven.'_

Naruto twisted away before Hinata could notice them, slinging another insult at Sasuke. The latter returned to their routine as well, albeit a bit enthusiastically, as Hinata stifled her amusement. Those orbs or pearl and lavender blinked owlishly as she wondered at their synonomous smile. The couldn't possibly have noticed...or had they? She stared at them for all of five seconds, increasingly aware of just how forced their bickering seemed to be, she was looking at them with such scrutiny.

"Ano...

"We're here!" Naruto hollered before Hinata could voice her suspicions. Hinata scowled in a rare moment of disbelief as they hurtled towards a particularly large branch. Nestled safely within the shade of its fellows and hidden within the shadows of a thick tangle of ivy, even the Byakugan would've failed to detect it, had there been no one inside. Naruto was hurtling directly toward it. Heedless to the dozens of serpents coiling restlessly around the branch, and the razor wires someone had scattered before this unseen shelter.

Another of Naruto's opaque gales of blackness shredded those and then they moved onward.

"S-Sugoi." Hinata managed.

"Naruto, you fucking genius." Sasuke smirked as they neared the massive bough and the dozens of smaller serpents upon it. The creatures didn't even bother to attack them, they simply scattered as the trio approached, slithering away into the blackness and shards of late afternoon sun; poking through the canopy to provide a faint illumination. Hinata saw something massive moving within those shadows, but she didn't dare activate her Byakugan, even as a final surge of chakra sent them shooting towards their destination.

But Naruto wasn't smiling.

"Don't be thanking me yet, Sasuke." Shoving a bit of chakra into his legs, Naruto leapt into the highest branches of canopy in a single bound, and then there was only blackness. Entering the remaining branches between them and daylight, Hinata found that the temperature had risen to suffocatingly humid level here in the upper boughs. Something _slithered _across her peripherals and she shuddered, despite all that training with sensei and the boys, Hinata shuddered.

Entering a hostile situation while armed to the teeth often guaranteed an immediate response. Whomever, whatever lurked beyond these branches of vine and blackened bark, didn't take kindly to their weapons. Hinata felt as though millions upon millions of unseen eyes were watching them and those glittering items of steel and iron. Perhaps even more-so when Naruto overshot the landing and ascended even further into the darkness.

Now, that there was hardly any light to see by, Hinata didn't realize they'd arrived at their destination until Naruto landed upon the bough in a stealthy crouch. He made no effort to leap into the bough above that one, because abruptly, Sasuke and Hinata were released, to the relief of one and the slight lament of the other. Naruto snapped his fingers. That was the snapping sound Hinata thought to have heard, because abruptly, with an electric snap-hiss, Naruto's right hand was holding a small whisp of flame, and his entire right arm was engulfed in that flame.

He held it up, a small speck of brilliance against the blackness. Sasuke and Hinata stared into it, as a small flicker of white became present amongst the orange-red of the fireball Naruto was clutching. With a small rasp of air as it cleared its sheathe,Naruto drew Kubikiri Houcho an instant later and Hinata bore witness to a startling sight. Chakra flowing from his fist into the pommel, Naruto screwed on the extra half of the handle, and by the time it was finished, so was his technique.

"Katon," He sighed loosely. **"Futtōkōken."** (Scalding Blade)

Without warning, the flames arced up the blade, baking it within the head. Naruto let go of the hilt, and it hung there where it had been moments before, suspended in midair. Mumbling words merged together and created coherency when he pressed two palms together as though he would pray. He rotated his hands together, forming a gun with them, then pulled them apart and pressed them into one another creating a claw, rotating his wrists and the technique was complete.

Then the hissing plucked Hinata from her thoughts.

"Don't move." A wall of black and silver sleeve thrust itself before Hinata's face, prompting a rapid, owlish, blink. "Both of you." Naruto repeated slowly, his posture unusually stiff. "Don't move a muscle unless I say otherwise." Naruto whispered, his Rinnegan gleaming with the bits of late afternoon sun that filtered down past the leaves. Hinata activated her Byakugan. The furious hiss of displeasure from the shadows advised against such a thing and the veins faded as she saw and wished she hadn't seen.

"Those are...

Naruto had thrown both arms outward, barring Sasuke and Hinata from advancing any further. She didn't envy him, because Naruto was all that stood between her and certain death. The death taking on the form of an obscenely large snake; said serpent being nearly five times their size and easily four meters in diameter. Naruto made no move to approach, but the behemoth remained vigilant, two eyes of fierce gold watching them at all times. It was not at all pleased by their arrival within its abode, and uttered a seething of a hiss that reminded Hinata of the time the Hyuuga Compound's boiler exploded. Hinata risked a tense glance toward her frozen teammates, one of whom was smiling into this, the face of death.

_'Naruto-kun?'_

"Whoa, there." Naruto raised his hands in placation. "We're not here to disturb your nest, miss." The snake paused, blinked, and eyed this human who had spoken to it with wariness. Naruto edged to the right, and half of a pace forward, his hands still raised. The python did not move. Naruto took another step forward, then another and another, and still, the coiled creature did not crush him where he stood. Though this was indeed incredible, both in-and-of-itself, Naruto abruptly decided to push his luck even further.

"See?" He held the white-hot zanbato away from himself in a wide and harmless arc that came nowhere near the mother snake. Hinata saw, in the light of the flame, that her teammate had told the truth; the massive serpent had coiled itself around a particularly bent bough and just within the parting of its coils, she could see the twigs and branches of the nest they'd stumbled into. But then the flame swung to the side, and Naruto made what most shinobi would call a fool's gambit.

He let go of the blade.

Naruto shoved the flaming blade into a nearby branch, suspended from the handle, lest the forest catch flame. The snake did not take its eyes off of him. Although this stranger no longer possessed the burning blade, it still considered him a threat to its children, because Hinata saw the rippling of muscles as it preapred to burst forward and expose its teeth. Fangs that were larger than three of them standing shoulder to shoulder, glistened with fresh venom in the fading fire.

"We're not here to hurt you." Naruto said.

Not an instant later Naruto smiled, and in that instant, Hinata realized what he was going to do. Sasuke was a bit slower on the uptake, but from the swear given by the Uchiha, he'd come to a similair conclusion, it seemed.

_"We just want your permission to pass."_

Naruto smiled_ -pleasantly-_and, stepped forward before Sasuke or Hinata could speak to stop him. He marched right up to the snake, ignorant of the warning hiss, and oblivious as its jaws snapped on him and closed. Only, they didn't. Naruto raised a hand and her jaws never closed. Where it had reared up to smash him into the ground, there was only a dent in the wood. Naruto hadn't even batted an eyelash, and his arm remained rigid, straight, and stoic as he held the massive jaws at bay _with a hand._

"Surely we can avoid this." He spoke into the the cavernous tunnel that would lead to his demise, uncaring as thick strands of viscous fluid dripped down on his coat and burned holes into his jacket. If that was meant to intimidate the serpent, it worked. She jerked back as though she'd been burned. Naruto watched her retreat, static, as she _yowled _in disbelief and tried to comprehend why she had been unable to devour him as she had so many others. Naruto raised a hand and Hinata watched his eyes flare becoming wide and large as an invisible wave of rippling pressure spread outward from his right hand and ravaged the bark between him and the mother snake.

And then it was over.

She saw the snake, saw its mouth gaping open, and somehow forced out a strangled whisper of disbelief. This weak whisper of willfulness attracted attention from Sasuke, but before Sasuke could do anything, Naruto had ended the confrontation. Too late, Sasuke hurled a brace of flaming shuriken _-when had he learned that- _into the shadows. A snarl slipped from his lips, _followed _by a sigh as Naruto batted all the projectiles away, leaving them lie as they _thunked_ harmlessly into tree and branch and bark and bone, none of them striking their target.

"Ow." He muttered. "You know, that is the THIRD time today someone has put a hole in me. Do I look like a hollow to you, Sasuke!" **(Harmless reference, no pun or harm intended)**

Naruto noted his shredded sleeve with thinly veiled disdain, as though the sleeve had betrayed him somehow. He tore it off in an instant, revealing a blackened wrist and an arm smothered in burns of varying hues that consisted of red and pink, healing skin. Even as Hinata watched the wounds spread, Naruto was already healing, and by the time he'd hurled the ruined arm cuff let into the forest, no more than the faintest tinge of scarlet lingered upon the restored limb.

But why had he taken a direct hit?

_'There must be some kind of limit to the number of attacks.' _Hinata stared at Naruto as he pulled pieces of melted metal from his flesh, lamenting the loss of his now ruined jacket. _'Otherwise, Naruto-kun would have deflected them.' _That must be the reason, she theorized. There had to be some kind of "recharge" time before Naruto could use _that _technique again. Whatever the length might, be, it surely wasn't long, because five seconds later, a surge of pressure extinguished the flames altogether, and sent Naruto's cloak billowing outward.

"You know...

Hinata froze.

"You know, I could have _sworn _that I told you not to move." Naruto was less than amused as he lowered the kunai, flinging the knife away and into the darkness. "Sasuke." Rinnegan reappeared from beyond his shoulder as he leveled an emotionless gaze toward the Uchiha, too stunned to reply. Naruto smiled, and turned the full weight of that gaze upon the snake. The beast had paused, rearing as it leered contemptuously at the incoming projectiles with outrage and scorn.

"Well?" Naruto asked.

Now, it cowered as a sinister killer intent emanated from Naruto. The bough he'd been standing on exploded as Naruto shot upward, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake. Naruto flicked his palm to the branch where his blade lay, and then, that was gone, too. Both master and machete reappeared on the serpent's forehead. Blazing blade in his hand, Naruto tipped it toward her skull, awaiting an answer to his previous inquiry.

_"Now _may we pass?" Naruto reattained his polite tone, smiling, despite the fact that he was holding a burning chakra weapon. "I'd really hate to shove this through your skull and leave all those kids of yours orphaned, miss." For a moment, Hinata thought he was going to kill the serpent regardless, basked as he was within the current of those white-hot flames. Instead, snake keened in disbelief and bucked, thrashing wildly as a massive undulation rocked across its frame. Hinata clamped her feet to the branc with chakra, but Naruto had already flung himself to safety, placing one hand flat on the python's forehead as he swept toward her and toward safety, leaving the monster to coil around her young; and then she was gone.

Damn but that this was fast.

"Arigatou!" Naruto waved cheerily. "See you later!"

Hinata was stunned.

Sasuke looked fretful.

"Naruto, I-

"Meh." Naruto shrugged and breathed on his blade, a stream of water jetting from his lips, extinguishing the flame into harmless vapor. "Don't be sorry. I mean, its not like I would have done the same thing, but you were just trying to look out for me, right?" He'd hit the nail on the head. Sasuke blinked, and muttered something that sounded like "you're welcome" as Naruto sheathed his sword. Too many emotions flickered across the Uchiha's face for Hinata to read, and she knew that using the Byakugan would be pointless. Sasuke had the strange habit of wearing Chakra Armour under that odd cloak of his, and Hinata's eternal vision couldn't seem to pierce that shroud.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"I-It's nothing." The Uchiha slapped his cheeks twice, shook his head; and whirled in a weird and wandering pirouette, facing toward the shelter they'd been after all this time. Naruto made an after you gesture and Sasuke was eager to take point and get away from the amused redhead. "M-Move." He muttered, bruising past Naruto a bit too forcibly when the branch became thin enough to force them into a single-file-line, a line which Sasuke all but sprinted across, such was his desire to put some breathing distance between himself and his teammates.

"Oi...Sasuke!" Naruto called out at his back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

_'The sooner we set up shop the sooner we make a plan.'_Sasuke told himself. _'The sooner we do that, the sooner we snipe somebody and get a scroll. There's no way I'll be able to last five days with him, there is absolutely just no way I'll be able to tolerate it!' _

"Now, this should do nicely." He touched at the thick vines, and they seemed to ripple. Hinata still had her Byakugan active, and as such she was privy to a small pulsation of chakra as Naruto placed a hand upon one vine that appeared to be much, much thicker than the others. The vines rustled, and, like a curtain, parted before him, prompting Hinata to blink. Strange, the vines had some remnants of chakra which suggested that they weren't as deadened as she'd thought.

"Eh...I should warn you," Naruto cautioned, "I chose this place because-

Sasuke wasn't listening, irate that the vines kept blocking his hands.

Hinata froze as one of the vines twitched.

"S-Sasuke-kun, you shouldn't... touch...those."

_**Too late.**_

When one of those lime green veins of life actually _flifted a forked tongue at her_, Sasuke inhaled sharply, all of that carefully erected composure falling away. Sasuke _blinked, _control slipping from a visage that was white as a sheet. If that thing was moving that meant it was a..._Snake!_Sasuke _hated _snakes! _Sasuke shrieked._Shrieked, and flung himself backward, spewing a dense stream of flames as he retreated. Naruto and Hinata would have found this to be absolutely hilarious, had not Sasuke's sudden outburst threatened their shelter with destruction.

**"Katon, Housenka!"**

"Honestly," Naruto sighed, finishing the seals for a water encampment wall. Sasuke's flames were exonerated almost immediately, but as a result, the Uchiha was also caught in the blast as his _katon_ was overwhelmed by the _suiton_, and, as the water cleared, he was left standing there, shaking all over, sopping wet. Sasuke sneezed, his teeth chattering furiously. Naruto quirked an eyebrow when the avenger glowered at him and Hinata with all the unstoppable fury that a sopping wet genin could muster.

Ah, but it was the eloquence of Uchiha Sasuke that spelled his doom.

"D-Don't you dare laugh, a-asshole!" Sasuke hissed through chattering teeth. _"Don't you fucking dare-_

"BWAH!"

Naruto nearly fell off the tree when he burst out into a raucous bought of laughter. Hinata gazed at the poor Uchiha with pity and sympathetic remorse, although she too wore a small smile at Sasuke's plight. Poor Sasuke, the Uchiha really did try to remain calm, but when Naruto kept laughing, he ultimately tried to make good on his promise. A sneeze stopped Sasuke cold. Sasuke's straightened and scrubbed at the back of his eyes with a frustrated growl, only to sneeze again.

_"I told you not to laugh!" _Sasuke seemed to lose the pitch in his voice whenever he lost his temper, and inevitably, it washed away with the water. "Fucking dickhead!" His hands came away with a brace of shuriken and Naruto yelped as he had to fling himself out of their path. Sasuke shrieked and leaped after him, Naruto laughing even louder as the weapon cracked across his head. Sasuke, well, Sasuke remained just that, reacting in the

"Stop laughing!"

"HA!" Naruto cackled, skipping aside when a trio of shuriken thinned into the branch. "I'm trying but you're making it worse!" He doubled over, clutching at his side when a shriek streaked past him and continued his Hinata shook her head as the two inevitably forgot all about their mission and began to range wildly throughout a bough here, and a branch there, Sasuke flinging kunai after kunai, none of which came close, as Naruto, was almost always dodging._Poor Sasuke,_his cloak practically clung to him now thanks to Naruto's water encampment wall, and Hianta was afforded a view of the plated armor the Uchiha was wearing beneath, as well as a few hidden weapons she hadn't seen before. She also noticed Sasuke was unusually s_lim _beneath those thick folds that plastered themselves to his form. Unusual, as most boys were starting to become thick and stocky at this age, whereas Sasuke's posture, for, everything about him seemed...

_"HSSS!" _

Hinata spun around as a snake ruptured the curtain of vines and came flying at her face! A hand closed around it, and suddenly Naruto was at her left, and Sasuke _-dampened but not done-_at her right each flanking her. Sasuke, was ultimately the one who had seized the serpent and it was he who flung it back into the the curtain of vines. Naruto. Yet Naruto, upon noticing the viper, swept inside too the dismay of his teammates and resulted in the prompt arrival of said teammates from behind, while he offered a hand to the dazed reptile now laying on the floor. The creature regarded his upturned palm with intense scrutiny, as though it were fearful of some sharp implement of badness hidden there amongst the softness of his open hand.

Naruto smiled as though he'd just heard the words "free" and "ramen" in the same sentence.

"Been a while, hasn't it?" He supplied cheerily. "I thought I recognized you before!" Naruto was talking to the serpent as though he were an old friend. An old and very much disliked friend apparently, as the serpent uttered a long and sibilant _hiss_, vaguely reminiscent of question. Naruto offered a backward glance to his teammates and the serpent rounded on them with a startling swiftness. Hinata couldn't bring herself to move as it tasted the air with its tongue. Hebi or not, it was looking at her, and it was looking at Sasuke. Incredibly, it spared Hinata and Sasuke a _glance. _Those slitted pupils of keen intelligence regarding both Hyuuga and Uchiha keenly and without discrimination, its gaze holding the intense emotion that could only be described as..._interest._

"That's right." Naruto replied. "They're with me."

It offered another wordless hiss, though this one was much shorter than the last. Naruto laughed. Laughed. _Namikaze Naruto laughed_, and stroked the reptile across its triangular head with the tip of a finger, a subtle action that elicited a _stronger _response. The serpent hissed furiously as though it had been struck, and bore its fangs for all to behold. Hinata could feel the fear leaching from her as the creature bore its fangs menacingly and was summarily brushed across the head a second time.

_"Hssssss!"_It protested such offensive treatment, jerking away from Naruto with a baleful glare. It glanced toward the dumbfounded pair behind him again, and hissed with a much lighter, and far more hopeful tone than before. Naruto, to Hinata's faint amusement, promptly tapped it on the head in a curt statement that needed no explanation. The snake seemed to consider sinking those fangs into his hand for a moment, before it decided against such an action.

"No, no," The Namikaze waggled a finger reproachfully. "I've told you already, these two are not for eating." Not one to be distracted the serpent hissed loudly, rousing some of the "vines" that draped around Team Seven's encampment. They took one look at Naruto, saw his eyes narrow ever so slightly, and laid themselves into silence suspension once more. The snake hissed in disbelief, there was no mistaking the wounded outrage in its eyes as it glanced fretfully toward its comrades, wounded by their sudden betrayal. Hinata giggled, and Sasuke joined her, both shinobi having lost any and all fear of the reptiles.

The serpent ravished them both with another baleful glare that demanded respect, and given that their shelter was surrounded by the serpents, Hinata and Sasuke really should have paid proper and decent homage to the snake. And they might have, if they'd been able to stop laughing at the outrage in its eyes. Ultimately, Naruto regarded those glistening fangs dripping with venom, and shook himself as he too, oppressed a small chuckle.

"I'll let you eat anyone _else _stupid enough to come here, _Tomachi."_Naruto said this while he stroked the underside of the snake, in the place where a chin might have been on any other creature, and raptly, all was forgiven. "Would the assauge your wounded pride?" The reptile met his his glare for a moment longer, clearly not fond of this demeaning gesture, almost as though the snake did not like being_...petted? _A small and dubious hiss greeted the action, mottled within an unmistakable note of annoyance, but it relented, reluctantly, hissing again, supposing a question.

"Come now, what could I possibly be hiding from you?" Naruto smiled mirthlessly too which the snake tilted its head, an all-too human expression of _suspicion _flecking through reptilian irises. Suddenly, it snapped forward like an arrow! Hinata was just about to cry out in warning, when the serpent coiled around Naruto's arm and remained there, leering at her with thinly veiled scorn and outright but blatan vehemity that practically screamed "fear me" the problem of which being that, there wasn't anything to fear. It wasn't large at all, she realized. Actually, it was quite small, now that the shadows and vines weren't obscuring the rest of its body. Hinata wasn't at all surprised if it measured no more the length of her arm.

And it was..._kawai!_

"How on earth could anyone be afraid something so cute?" She sighed happily as the snake paused. "He's harmless!"The snake hissed at Hinata in vehement protest of said cuteness." Bakas." Sasuke muttered, also momentarily managing to forget the fact that Naruto was talking to that which the Uchiha so loathed. "Both of you, honestly! How the hell can a snake be cute!" Still, Sasuke was making every effort to hide behind Naruto, lest any of those slithering serpents happen to come meandering toward him.

The serpent known only as Tomachi, leveled another baleful glare upon the Uchiha. Clearly, it remembered its mistreatment and subsequent near-death experience at the hands of the Uchiha, and _clearly_, it was displeased by such an insinuation. Leering, it creaked open its jaw and exposed its fangs. Sasuke whimpered and hid himself further behind Naruto, uttering a black and condemnatory oath towards all that was reptilian.

'Oh, yuck!'

Naruto was struggling not to laugh at it all. The mighty Uchiha, reduced to a quivering wreck at the sight of one little snake! Oh, he could just see the headlines in the village newsletter! Sasuke would never overcome his phobia of snakes then, if word ever escaped this forest. _Uchiha pisses his pants! The last of the clan, cowering in fear of a harmless garden snake!_Frankly, Sasuke's erratic and unusual behavior, though detrimental to his reputation, was proving to be the highlight of their five day stay in the forest of death.

But there was work to be done, and Naruto, reluctantly, pulled himself back to the task.

"Now now, settle down." Naruto warned, glancing toward the seething serpent. "You're making him upset."

_"Hsss!"_

Naruto offered a small smile of amusement as it coiled around his sleeve and _zigzagged _toward his shoulder. Upon reaching his neck, it reared, arched back, and paused, tasting the air within an inch of his left ear. Hinata blinked. _Blinked,_as Naruto raised his hand and bid them be still where they stood. No sooner had he done this, than the serpent uttered a series of long and lengthy hisses different from the rest, pausing, ending and beginning again with no sign of a pattern, never the same nor were the sounds it made distinct. Its forked tongue flicked in and out rapidly every beat or so, and its head seemed to bob slightly between interruptions.

Abruptly it finished whatever message it had been conveying, leaving Naruto to nod, conveying his thanks through a small inclination of the head.

"Now I'd love to see that," He replied to a final, amused hissing. "Any chance you could pull it off?"

An indignant hiss.

"No, no, I don't doubt your abilities its just-

_"Hsssss!"_

"Alright, alright." Naruto grinned. "But I'd like it even _more _if you kept him occupied for the rest of the evening." A baring of the fangs, another furious hissing. "Yes, yes, I did say you could have anyone else that happened upon this little hovel of yours, now scat!" Naruto finished his sentence with a swift swipe of the wrist, but the serpent had already slid from his shoulder. With a remarkable burst of agility a snake could only posses, it raced down his arm, arced across his wrist, and even as Hinata saw, the vines overhead rustled and the creature was lost into the darkness and branches of vines that hung overhead.

"Its always the little ones." Naruto grumbled. "They're so damn picky!"

He was met with deafening silence.

"Since when can he talk to snakes?" Sasuke muttered, hoping someone might answer the obvious question. Incredibly, someone did. Naruto, who hadn't turned to address either of them for the entire duration of his strange conversation; spun about on his heel and put an end to that. Smug, he lifted a finger and Sasuke followed him. "Why, Sasuke," Naruto smiled, mimicking Kakashi-sensei, a trickle of pride leaking into his voice, "Didn't you know that they're my allies?" He was pointing at, gesturing, to the curtain of what the Uchiha had thought to be vines, and now it was his turn to be stricken into silence.

"What they're your servants or something?"

Naruto beamed.

"You might say... they're my subordinates."

A flat hiss snapped at him from somewhere above their roof.

"Sorry!" Naruto grumbled to the congregation of vipers lurking above. _"Comrades."_Naruto chose that moment to lay a hand upon a compact, violet scroll he'd been keeping belted to his thigh. Given all his armaments, it was really the only place he _could _wear such a device without impeding his movement/weapons _and _leave enough room for the Kubiki Houcho to lay flat between his shoulders. Naruto touched at it and abruptly, the scroll was nearly as tall as he and resting comfortably against an downturned palm, it southern end berthed against the hardened bark that served as their floor within a hollow tree in which they would eventually make their base of operations.

"See?" He grinned, hefting the huge scroll with appreciation. "This is my new technique." Laying it against the wall, Naruto unfurled it and revealed it for what it truly was. Hinata had initially, believed it to be a smaller than average storage scroll. Now she realized the graveness of her mistake as he opened the scroll and revealed its contents, much to their stupefaction. Scrawled across it, in a series of signatures etched into the papyrus with blood were names, each of which consisted of a fingerprint, hand-print, or some other manner and means of identification, located above the name. Despite a host of names, including Naruto's toward the far left, most of the scroll was predominately blank.

Hinata couldn't tear herself away.

"This is...

_"A Summoning Contract."_Sasuke breathed, his gaze cutting across to Naruto from where he crouched beside him. "Where in the hell did you get this?" Naruto waggled an eyebrow, looked as if he'd be keeping quiet, shrugged, and gave up the proverbial ghost when subjected to an imploring stare from both his friends. But first he folded the scroll, placed it in his lap, and crossed his legs. Leaning on it for support as he sat, he waited for his teammates to do the same.

"First, I want the two of you to know something." Naruto tapped the scroll deprecatingly. "There are some things that...I'm just not comfortable talking about. This isn't one of them, but if we're going to be spending the next five days in this forest, that's about the only rule I've got, so...any suggestions?" Hinata offered her hand. _"Hime?"_Naruto beckoned, only realizing what he'd said _after _Hinata flared a furious flushing of crimson and scarlet. "Erm...I mean, do have any suggestions, H-Hinata?" Naruto fought to correct his mistake, but Hinata appeared to be mute for all intensive purposes. Had Sasuke not spoken up, doubtlessly it would have escalated into one of those uncomfortable silence they loathed so much.

"Um...

"Well, we might as well unpack our gear first before I explain...

Hinata and Sasuke exchanged a glance as Naruto revealed a map, and upon spreading it, exposed a mapping of the entire forest. Sasuke kicked his pack into a corner and rolled out a sleeping bag, to Naruto's sudden expletive. Hinata, who had been about to unfurl her own sleeping back, paused and realized the redhead was fumbling furiously within his own, unable to find something. Upturned or downturned, it was not in his bag, and he hung his head in momentary dejection.

"Eh...now what?" Sasuke eyed Naruto warily, noticing the abscence equiptment the redhead had brought with. He had a tent, but that was it. No food. No water. Nothing. Sasuke and Hinata packed it for themselves, but Naruto? He had more weapons than he had food and drink! Plus, most important of all...

_'I forgot my sleeping bag!' _Naruto would have made a certain sannin weep with joy, such were his ensuing thoughts. _'Of all the times!' _To make matters worse, Sasuke and Hinata were staring _staring, _and upon concluding that Naruto had indeed, forgotten to pack much of ANYTHING, Hinata was ultimately, and, ironically, the first to offer hers. Naruto adamantly refused, knowing what Sasuke, what anyone would think of a boy and girl sharing a tent, let alone...

"GHA!" Naruto scrubbed at his head furiously. "This is a disaster!"

"Oh, will you be quiet!" Sasuke hissed. "You can have mine, idiot! I'll sleep on the floor!" Naruto blinked in a rare return to his old self. Then the sleeping roll, already tied down again, hit him across the face with such force that he twitched. Twitched and flung it back. Sasuke batted it away toward Naruto, unable to hide the smile. "I said you can have, it remember?" Naruto ducked as it whisked past in a blur of green and black. Then he cackled and returned fire. Well...he would have...had Sasuke not snatched it out of the air, spun around and hurled his sleeping mat with such force that Naruto flew from his feet, and onto his back, abruptly ending another one of their amusing little squabbles.

Hinata didn't know what to make of this, or their sudden return to normalcy.

So put an end to it with the question Naruto had initially avoided.

"Ano...we've set up our supplies, so can you tell us about your scroll, please, Naruto-kun?" Naruto's smile wilted beneath this imploring stare of hers. _Gods!_Were all girls like this? Whether she knew it or not, Hinata had but to blink, and Naruto instantly became putty in her hands. Not to the extent that he'd do anything -he had his pride- but were she to ask for something, he'd certainly give it. He'd become rather fond of this new Hinata, and in Naruto's mind, anything he could do to keep her around was worth the cost and sacrifice.

She would not be dissuaded, and neither would Sasuke.

"Alright, alright, I'll tell you!" Naruto yielded at last, plopping himself down, crossing his legs, and leaning upon the scroll. "But this is...embarassing!" Hinata willed herself not to glance at Sasuke again. She'd been looking to the Uchiha for support all too often as of late. So she kept her mouth shut and silenced the buzzing bees and butterflies in her stomach, and bid herself be still. Naruto had a way of talking on his own, but only if you let him say his piece, would you ever hear the truth behind all that bluster and bravado. Kurenai-sensei had been right, in that regard.

Boys _were _complicated.

And so she sat, and so she listened and Naruto gave them the unedited version of the "incident" that had earned him the contract he held in his hand.

"Remember that stunt when I "broke in" and "stole" the Scroll of Sealing?" Naruto's air quotes elicited a blush from both teammates. Sasuke's was of humiliation, for it brought out the recollection of how Naruto had ambushed him and left him gagged and bound back in their first days as genin. Hinata's blush was of a far more subtle sort. Hinata blushed from pride, secretly _glad _because that so called "stunt" was what earned Naruto the right to graduate, and eventually, placed them on the same team. Naruto's wild gesticulations nudged her out of the past and back to the present with a recounting of the finer-points of that night as he revealed something that, to their knowledge, hadn't been known to the populace. Naruto had succeeded in graduation because of that misdeed, yes, because he'd learned the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.

However, there was another side to the story.

"Well, y'see," Naruto began with a blush," I might've _glanced _at a few jutsu before before Iruka-sensei caught me."

"How many is a few?" Sasuke was suddenly enrapt with attention. "Naruto?" Naruto counted on his fingers, aware of their eyes growing larger with every second. Eventually he gave up, scrubbed at the back of his head with a hand, and chucked sheepishly.

"About...a couple dozen?"

"WHAT!" Sasuke balked at the number. "A couple dozen! Really?" Rather than being dismissive of the number as he was with most of Naruto's over-flaunted talents, Sasuke made no effort to conceal his pure look of disbelief, and he seemed to forget about the pitching of his voice for an instant as basked in this brief expression of admiration. Rather than be impressed, this left Hinata more than a little worried as they entered into a discussion of the select few that Naruto knew. She wondered if Naruto's… former… teammate had the opportunity to learn of that, given Naruto's recent falling out with Sakura, it was certainly a possibility that the Haruno _didn't _know, but those chakra whips she'd seen had been able to harm, _wound jinchuuriki._Hinata frowned. Best not to mention that. For what must have been the first time, Sasuke wasn't irked by Naruto's revelations that he was stronger than ever, despite their training. She wanted to enjoy this moment of serenity, with the both of them.

_...Damn."_Sasuke's oath of condemnation plucked Hinata from her thoughts. "You'll...have to teach me a few of those, sometime." He flushed lightly as Naruto blinked owlishly. Sasuke wanted Naruto to train him? Well, miracles did happen, after all. Still, Hinata couldn't bring herself to believe Sasuke was being sincere in his intentions. That was just so..._not like him. _Sasuke must've realized that, for as Naruto named another one of the few he'd used five seconds ago, the Uchiha readily replied with a sudden snort of annoyance.

"What, you learned how to talk to animals?" Sasuke snorted. "A-As if I'd want to learn th-that one, baka!"

"They prefer the term _converse_, thank-you-very-much." Hinata hated to see the happiness leaching from the eyes of her beloved, but Naruto's statement still caught her completely flat-footed. "Oh, and I think I remember the name of a jutsu that involved the slicing off of certain body parts." He leered furiously at Sasuke. "Or are you going to stop being a dick and let me finish, huh?" Abashed, Sasuke twisted himself aside, making every effort to appear uninterested as Naruto continued his explanation and subsuqent correction of Sasuke's mistitled mistake.

"Actually, the name of that Jutsu is called Universal Communication," He continued flatly, "And _that,_is how I got ahold of this scroll. Tomachi's pops was the one who gave this to me, because I didn't try to squish him like a certains someone," Standing, the scroll snapped itself shut and shrank back to its former size, allowing Naruto to strap it to his thigh. "Oh, and this one's called the _Compression Jutsu." _Naruto's face twisted horribly, his eyes small and angry. "I could tell you how it works, but suddenly, I don't feel very much like teaching anyone much of anything, Sasuke." Naruto glared at the Uchiha and Hinata was left to witness the first viable display of annoyance since the exams had begun, too which, the Uchiha flinched aside.

"Long story short, I was nice to that little guy you saw earlier, and that, was how I got this." He supplied. "Its just...I'd forgotten I'd even had it until my apartment collapsed." Hinata knew at once he was referring to the incident in which a bomber had gone after the Tsuchikage's grandaugther. Naruto lived with sensei now, but still, she've never given him that housewarming present! Hinata placed a hand into her pack and began to rummage around for something.

_'I...should give it to him while I have the chance.'_

Her hand closed around it, but Naruto wasn't even paying attention to her now. Locked as he was upon Sasuke, still stung by the Uchiha's insult. Hinata watched him scowl at the Uchiha, all of their old amusement forgotten as he muttered something bittery about Sasuke hating peace. Hinata _swallowed_, gulped and forced words to emerge from the blackness of her throat and rise to her now flushing face, claiming his attention before the blush could overwhelm her face.

"Actually, Na-Naruto-kun, that reminds me, I-

Poor Hinata! She never had the chance to finish that sentence.

"You'd be surprised by who knows what around here." The Namikaze finished coldly, seeking an end to their argument and the staleness of their conversation. "Which reminds me," He stood abruptly, crossing the space of their shelter after a few quick strides, parting the vines with an annoyed grunt. Stifled, Hinata shoved his present back into her back and cursed her carelessness. "This way, both of you." Naruto announced, not waiting for his teammates to follow. As such, Hinata came in hard on his heels a few moments later, followed by a reluctant Sasuke.

"Hurry up, Hurry up!" Naruto ushered them outside, and Hinata was stricken to see that his chakra coils were reddened once again in reflection of his mood. "I don't have all day, or am I still moving _too fucking slow_for ya, huh, Sasuke!" Naruto was visibly pained in voice and expression, Hinata could see this as she came to a halt, but all of that withered once he laid eyes on her . "Ahem," He coughed into a fist, abruptly calming as her crystalline orbs held his own, silently expressing her apologies for Sasuke's outlandish behavior.

"We'll be splitting up from here on out." Naruto held up a hand as disbelief spilled across her lips and trickled into protest. "However, before we go further," Naruto's shading shifted in the faint light for a moment as he brushed at the back of his head with a hand. "I'd like to tell the two of you something." But he said nothing, and the silence stretched onward, with no end in sight. Hinata looked back, forth, and her gaze settle upon Naruto's Rinnegan as the Namikaze's face contorted painfully, as though he'd just wrenched out his heart, and held it in the palm of his hand. Suddenly, it was all Hinata could do to keep herself static. At this moment, she wanted nothing more than to wrap her arms around him and kill that painful expression that filled his eyes, his face, and every other part of him until it became Naruto himself.

And still, Naruto did not speak. He fidgeted,

Sasuke was the first to break.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright!" He grumbled loudly. "Okay, there, I said it!"

Sasuke broke first, because immediately, the Uchiha gave a contemptuous snort of great annoyance, and he hadn't done that since Hinata joined Team Seven. As Hinata witnessed this brief admission of guilt she _also _bore witness too another event, proving _-at least in her eyes- _that the Uchiha truly _had _changed for the better; because while he grumbled and pretended to lament Naruto-kun's "lack" of speed twisting his body aside so much so that he nearly performed a complete revolution, he blushed. Sasuke _flushed_, folded both arms over his chest, huffed, and turned aside, allowing Hinata to see his face, but oh no, not Namikaze Naruto, _he was not allowed_.

Sasuke-kun was...blushing?

_'I've never seen him blush like that..._

Naruto blinked, startled, then abruptly cheered by the sudden admittance-of-bastardness from his teammate.

"Well, that wasn't what I was waiting for, but, well, thanks!" Sasuke turned aside, a rare emotion flickering through his features, hurt. Naruto didn't see, but Hinata did and couldn't bear the silence for another second. She tugged on his sleeve, earning a confused glance.

"Is something wrong, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto crumbled beneath the weight of those eyes.

"N-Not anymore, but about...earlier, just now...I've thought of something."

"Nani?"

"As you suggested before we started the second exam, Hinata, we need a password." He admitted. "We can't take the chance that someone won't try to impersonate one of us and steal our scroll. If it comes to that, and I think it will, we need a way to identify each other. We need to be absolutely certain that, should our group be infiltrated by a fake, we'll immediately know there's a problem, and well, um, correct it, obviously."

Naruto suddenly blushed, to which Hinata blinked innocently.

"Is there...something else?" She asked.

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a guilty glance, but this time, _Naruto _was the first to yield to Hinata's questioning.

"Okay, okay!" He threw his hands up in unconditional surrender the _instant _Hinata turned that inquisitve stare upon him. "You caught, me, red-handed." Naruto grinned and Hinata felt her cheeks burn with something that wasn't embarrassment as he showed her that foxy grin that made her heart fly and her soul soar. "But we caught _you, too!"_Naruto declared abruptly, jutting a finger outward, not noticing as Sasuke tensed behind him, visibly withering when he pounced. Hinata must've been preoccupied by still trying to drive the blush from her face; because she was totally unprepared for the sudden attack on her person as Naruto swooped in and wrapped her up in a way neither threatening nor harmful. They, all three genin including a stunned Hinata, knew it was neither the time or the place for to be hugging each other out of the blue, yet here he was, doing just that. But that, was precisely why Naruto was acting so outlandishly, they would soon realize.

"Na-Naruto, I-

_"Listen."_He whispered furiously. "Hinata-chan. I can only say this once."

**_"?_"**

Hinata offered a wordless sound of confusion.

"This is the password." Hinata quivered as his lips brushed against her ear. "Remember." Hinata _prayed _with all her might that this brushing of the lips against the left lobe of her ear was unintentional. Oh, she hoped and willed and prayed that was the case and that he wasn't doing this on purpose, because unless Namikaze Naruto got down on a knee, pulled out a ring and said a certain sentence that contained the words "I love you," and "Marry me" and went on to admit that he'd been terribly, _terribly _in love with her from the very beginning, then she was going to _die. Yes, _she, Hinata Hyuuga would absolutely _die of embarrassment _if Naruto-kun did that to her ear again.

"I-If I hug you like that y-you'll know its me."

Her heart stopped beating.

_"N-Nani?"_

But Naruto only mussed at her hair, something he never, ever did, and continued his strange mutterings. "Listen to me. Watch what I'm going to do next, Hinata-chan. If anyone doesn't do this, even if they look like us, then they're the enemy. Got it? Good." Naruto spoke swiftly leaving Hinata scrambling in mind and body and soul as he bolted away, maintaining his laughter within a seamless flow of exuberance and outlandish showboating, something the old Naruto had always done, and those who didn't know him, might expect of him. "You were laughing!" He announced proudly pointing again, no longer mussing her hair as he had done moments before.

"Weren't you!" He jabbed his finger, not to her, but at _Sasuke._

For a moment, Hinata feared that Sasuke might misinterpret Naruto's gesture, but when the Uchiha headbutted the redhead, she knew that all was not lost.

Hinata had to fight with all her might not to burst into giggles again. She knew should be grim, concentrated, focused; with her attention honed to a fine edge. She ought to be scanning the canopy for any potential threat, near or far, with the Byakugan. She should be making battle preparations, _not _tittering on-and-on and _on _like a dimwitted schoolgirl. Back then, the old Hinata would have hurriedly apologized for hindering her teammates and endangering their chances of wasn't one but she should be wary, but for a moment, it was just so..._thrilling! _

It ended all too soon.

Naruto flung a kunai into the upper branches and ushered them forward before he warped. Hinata steeled her stomach and took his hand, grimacing as the world blew away in an incredible brightness and took them into the wake of Naruto's technique. Then they were gone again, flashing through the treetops. Nearly a minute into their ascent, Naruto tensed. Hinata activated her eyes purely out of instinct and that was all that saved them from smashing into the occasional branch as they navigated the late afteroon sky.

And then she saw nothingness.

There was no light here, and suddenly, Hinata was afraid. Naruto had long since relinquished his grip upon Sasuke and herself, and now, they were left to fumble blindly in the blackness. Finding safety was paramount, but did they really have to go this far up? Even with her Byakugan, she saw only the faintest of outlines this far up, where the branches became so thick that the light itself could never hope to ever see the creatures lurking within the blackness.

"Close your eyes, Hinata." Naruto's tone brooked no argument; gave no quarter. "You too Sasuke."

"What!" A furious snarl in the darkness, from Sasuke. "Then how the hell are we supposed to-

"I'll be your eyes." Hinata could only just see Naruto in the darkness, but his Rinnegan was another story. Those orbs of rimmed and rippling violet glimmered brightly in the blackness and met Sasuke and his Sharingan for an intense moment. Hinata opted to play mediator, lest they hold hers for what an eternity. Hinata forced her kekkai genkai to dissipate, and closed her eyes. A sound of approval greeted the action, prompting a blush from the Hyuuga heiress as a hand closed around hers and pulled her back into his arm.

"Not again," Sasuke muttered, relief filling Hinata as she felt him comply, if not with words, then with his footsteps as he approached. "Why the hell do we have to be carried!"Naruto must have seized Sasuke in such a way as well, because suddenly, she heard the thunk of another kunai, the same one that made her insides twist as they flashed out of existence. She came back to herself an instant later and nearly lost her lunch as they fell forward into freefall.

They _thunked_ down onto a branch and Hinata clung to Naruto and swallowed her stomach. How did Naruto tolerate this technique? Her heart was determined to burst through her ribs and the roaring in her ears refused to go away as she reeled from the loss, and subsequent reclamation of vertigo. Hinata almost vomited. She swallowed, her entire body crippled for all of an instant. Then the pain was gone and they landed, safely.

"Because you'll fall to your death." Naruto somehow made himself heard over the wind. "Do you want that?"

A moment of silence, then:

_"Fine..._

Hinata felt queasy. Iruka-sensei's lectures on tactics seemed so simple back at the Academy. Now, it was all she could do to keep the remains of her last meal down. She dreaded whatever it might be that waited for them in this hot, humid darkness. As it was, she found herself sweating, even though she'd removed her jacket upon entering the forest. Abruptly, she was thankful for Naruto's intense hold around her waist, as that was the only thing keeping upright and standing on these now wobbly knees.

Naruto hauled Hinata inward with such force that she cringed. He must have done the same to Sasuke, because a pitched expletive echoed throughout the blackness. Then there was only the rush of air and Hinata felt herself_...falling?_They were going down, now? Hinata opened her eyes just in time to see the ground rearing up to smash them in the face. Remarkably, the impact came with only this and the dullest of vibrations, leaving Hinata to blink at their surprisingly soft landing. When Hinata finally felt her heart slow to a tolerable pace, she willed her body to unclench. Straightening, she was abruptly aware of a sibilant hissing echoing around them.

The ground beneath them rose, and suddenly, Hinata felt the warmth of sunlight touching her face. She wanted to know what was lifting them, but she squeezed her eyes shut and trusted. After what felt like an eternity later, Naruto exhaled, inhaled, and spoke clearly, the warmth within his voice once more.

"We're here." Naruto announced suddenly. "Open your eyes."

Landing on a thick bough in a stealthy crouch, Hinata scanned the branches. Naruto plucked at the sapling upon which they stood, and beckoned for them to follow. Sasuke risked a glance toward her, and Hinata shrugged helplessly before darting after the redhead. Naruto was already leagues ahead -did he really have a monster making him that agile- his heels coated with so much chakra that he'd practically glued the tree to himself. Tethered to the bark, Naruto chose that moment to refrain from silence. He needn't have worried. With a soundless thunk, they placed their feet against the branch and, like he, hung upside down, allowing him to take point and sprint up the tree without any sort of explanation, confident that they would be following, hard on his heels. Hinata read all of that as he called out to them, waved, and disappeared into the vines they'd been headed toward this entire time.

He leapt out with a yelp of surprise.

"Good luck!" He called loudly. "I'm going to scout ahead." There was a huge plume of smoke and suddenly the branches were litted with so many Namikaze Narutos' that Hinata lost track of them after the original dissolved into the crowd. He began making rapid gestures and shouting all kinds of orders to the doplegangers, before he bid ten of them into henge and sent them off in one direction, a few thousand to disguise themselves as rocks, branches, and other natural flora, and the rest _-still somewhere in the upper thousands-_ in various directions without even placing a henge on any of them.

"This is where we'll split up."

Sasuke and Hinata gawped up at the number he'd just produced. Naruto grinned and bent to one knee as he began to remove various items from his pack, none of which Hinata recognized. Staggered by the effort it took to create another ten dozen clones, Naruto and his clones immediately went to work and Hinata and Sasuke were left to linger in the deafening silence of confusion. Was all of that really necessary, Hinata wondered? She knew that the Kusa shinobi would target them after the verbal beating she'd viciously doled -effortlessly- upon him, but Naruto needed that many bunshin to distract him for the next five hours? That many? No, he had be up to something, but as usual, whereas plans for peace were also concerned, Naruto's motives remained dubious and as opaque as the black gale he summoned and sent hurtling outward into the lower branches, rigging them with a series of wires and explosive tags.

_'Naruto-kun..._

"That no good bastard." Sasuke murmured suddenly, realization filling his words; plucking Hinata from her thoughts. He was smiling. "All along, we did all of that running just to lose the others?" Hinata hadn't even thought of such a thing. Suddenly, Naruto's intense need for secrecy made perfect sense; in an overwrought and paranoid manner of the term. "Even _I _don't know what he's thinking now," Sasuke chortled darkly, and Hinata saw the light of defiance and excitement roaring high in those charcoal black irises as they flickered crimson with the three tomoe of his Sharingan. "Good. We'll have a bit of time, then." Hinata was about to ask what that meant, but Sasuke was all too eager to indulge. "He isn't just laying traps. And he _isn't _scouting, I don't think, not with all those bunshin out and scattered across the forest." Seconds after the explanation, Hinata finally found enough of her voice to speak the obvious question everyone was dying to know.

_"Nani?"_

"Can't you see? We're completely cut-off from the others." Sasuke hooked a thumb back from whence they'd come. "We closed our eyes earlier, because, not only did he not want either of us to see in case of capture, but," Hinata watched the air ripple beyond the length of his elbow, a look of awe coming to her eyes. "Naruto's thrown up a genjutsu." Of course. _Of course! _Hinata, shamed that she'd ever doubted him, hung her head slightly. Byakugan and Sharingan were resistant, if not outright immune, to certain types of illusions. Surely such a widespread technique _demanded _Naruto's complete and total concentration, not to mention pushing him past his already strained limits. Relieved that their roundabout route had lost them any pursuers, Hinata sighed. Sasuke smiled and contented his pace to a languid and unhurried stride as he led her up the last bough that would bring them to their place of shelter.

"Naruto-kun does a lot for us...doesn't he?" Hinata risked a glance at her teammate, because _anything _was better than looking down. "Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke smiled; abruptly saddened as he led them into the small crevasse Naruto left behind for them to use. Hinata turned aside, wondering at what she'd said. She hadn't long to wait as Sasuke touched a hand to her wrist. Hinata slowed, paused as she stopped and recognized a pained scowl etched into the Uchiha's face; because the smile had aabruptly welled up with unspoken agony.

"He...does more than you know." Sasuke _wanted _to say something else, instead he forced himself to say these words in placement of whatever was eating at him. Hinata wanted nothing more than to wipe that look from his face, because it reminded her of yesterday, the day _Naruto cried. _Hinata hated to see either of them cry; and not just because they were her teammates but because Naruto and Sasuke were her friends-no _they were family. _Sometimes...it felt like they were even more. Even Kakashi-sensei acted more of a doting uncle than a Jonin with a squirrely habit of arriving late to practice and carrying around perverted reading material.

Those three were more of a family to her, than the Hyuuga clan, than Hiashi Hyuuga, had ever been. And, for better or worse, Hinata couldn't bring herself to hate Father, no matter how much she was entitled to that hatred. No matter how many times he reminded her of her failures, her flaws, her still as-of-yet present imperfections; because Hinata had already stopped seeing him as a parent, just as he'd did not see her as his daughter, but as his heir, and a poor one at that, those had been his exact words, and they should have filled Hinata with bitterness as she recalled them now.

Hinata knew Sasuke, and she knew the pain was eating at him, even now. She knew, that he knew. Sasuke was beginning to realize, despite all his training, that Naruto was just, better. Not so much better than him, but just, a better person. Naruto had accepted his lineage took that bull by the horns offered, and vaulted over the beast. Naruto had moved past his pain, and he was moving on with his life, and Sasuke was being left behind to grapple with the remnants of a betrayal too deep for words, too deep to ever express in its entirety.

Sasuke was still hurting, and the sight of that hurt nearly brought Hinata to the cusp of tears. Enough. She needed to talk to him now, before their battle. Naruto wasn't here, and though she would've welcomed his presence at the moment, Hinata knew that he would stop her from going too far. Naruto himself had promised never to speak of this with Sasuke, save that he'd be there, that he would lend Sasuke all his power, all his aid, all his assistance, when the time came to avenge his clan.

Hinata was starting to think that revenge wasn't the best option anymore.

_'This is my chance to...t-talk to him..._

Certainly not, after what she'd seen in the first exam.

"Have you been thinking about Itachi-san lately, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke started as though he'd been slapped.

_...what?"_ He snarled, eyes narrowing.

"You have, haven't you?" Hinata accused, knowing that any weakness on her part would be taken as pity, and Sasuke loathed pity. Sasuke glared, _glared _at Hinata as though she were all that he'd struggled to ignore over the course of the last week and a half. Hinata met his flinty stare without hesitation; because if she gave ground now, now that she finally had a chance to call Sasuke on all the negative emotions he'd been hoarding, all the darkness eating at his heart, then Sasuke would withdraw. He'd wall himself off from her, Naruto, sensei, and everyone else, he's shut the world out and they'd lose him, forever.

Hinata wasn't about to take that risk.

"Sasuke," She continued quietly, "Have you ever thought about after? After you've killed Itachi, you'll be all alone." Sasuke flared scarlet at the implications of what came "after" killing his brother, but he did not give her the satisfaction that would come with his silence.

"That's none of your damn business." Sasuke, too his credit, managed to maintain a neutral tone. "Did Naruto put you up to this?"

"He didn't and it _is _my business!" Hinata choked in disbelief when he tried to turn away. "Sasuke!" She flung herself forward, blocking him, forcing him to pause. _Forcing _him to confront her, to look her in the eye and face what was consuming his mind day by day, night by night, growing with ever instant, despite the constant presence of herself and Naruto. "You've been mumbling while you sleep, you've been having those nightmares again, haven't you?" Hinata was not asking a question, and suddenly Sasuke's neutrality had been doused with a bucket of cold water, such was his expression as Hinata revealed the ill-conceived musings of their final night at sensei's home.

"How do you know about that?" Sasuke wasn't smiling anymore, and Hinata reminded herself she wasn't doing this to hurt him, but to help him. "How do _you _know what I've been having any dreams about, huh!" Hinata didn't raise an arm, didn't step back, didn't flinch, as Sasuke rounded on her with an astounding sound of betrayal and hurt. Hinata had expected no less. She knew, that in order to heal Sasuke, unfortunately, it meant hurting him first, and even though she had intended to avoid such an outcome, here they were.

"Would you believe that I'm not trying to make you angry?"_ That _broke through his fury for a moment, and Hinata drove the rest of her sentence home while she still could. "I know it hurts, Sasuke-kun, I know no one could ever truly understand what you're going through, not even Naruto-kun h-has a fully grasp of your situation." Sasuke remained mute, and Hinata mistook it for permission. "Even as we're trying to become chunin, you're letting your anger get the better of you, Sasuke-kun, I know you are and I know you need someone to talk to." Hinata stepped forward, her chin upturned slightly so that she met his Sharingan with her Byakugan in such a way that, for an instant, the Uchiha was disarmed, disarmed in such a way that his soul was left naked before her all seeing eyes, and when that happened, Sasuke rebelled, he rebelled against her words with such a shout that Hinata couldn't help herself; she flinched.

_"You know nothing!" _Sasuke's composure shattered with a roar of such fury that Hinata nearly flung herself away. As it were, he was downright furious. For two beats, Sasuke's face warped itself into a twisted mask of hatred and a fury that no boy should ever know. "You know nothing of my hatred, Hinata!" She stared up at him, blank as he raised a hand. She saw the frustration twist into fury then dismay, then outrage again, outrage that he'd nearly done what he had sworn to never do, nearly raised a hand against, her, against Hinata.

_"Hit me, then."_Her voice had yet to lose the chill. "Hit me if it makes you feel better." Sasuke flung himself right-side up and Hinata darted after him, arms spread, defenseless. Sasuke looked as though he were about to explode, but he lowered his hand. He couldn't do it, she realized. Sasuke, for all his fury, for all his hatred, could not bring himself to harm Hinata. He'd never attacked Hinata unless it was during a spar, and she saw the consequences of such an action, were he to strike her. Slowly, calm reasserted itself in those blazing red eyes. Sasuke lowered his hand and sagged, but Hinata did not approach him. Sasuke wasn't as far gone as she'd feared him to be inside, but that didn't make him any less dangerous. Now that Naruto's constant presence wasn't here to check his wrath or his remissions, Sasuke was capable of anything, and Hinata wasn't willing to test those waters while his wrath remained dominant.

There was hope for him yet.

"Sasuke-kun," Warily, she attached the suffix with great delicacy, "I-

Sasuke slaughtered her hope within a single sentence.

_"Not another word, Hinata."_

The air in the room was… tense. It wasn't full of killing intent. Not quite. But if emotions had smells their shelter would reek of them. Hinata stiffened figured it was probably a good thing Naruto was off scouting the woods, after all. Had he been here, he would have dissolved this argument of theirs with a smile and a word, and Sasuke would be left to bottle up more of his hatred. Sasuke was stone cold as he glared at Hinata, drawing his arms across his chest in outright defiance of her disbelief.

Finally, he spoke.

"I acknowledge your grievance against my clan," Sasuke said in a formal voice, reciting words that held about as much passion as Hyuuga politics. They were cold, deadened, empty. Hinata had the all too eerie impression that he'd completely memorized the mantra at some point. If his father was clan head, Sasuke must've undergone training similar to his own, both in the subtle art of politics and in the brazen brow-beating of one's opponent. This was the first time he'd spoken such formalities in her presence, and Hinata couldn't understand why.

"Uchiha Itachi is a traitor to both Konoha and to the Uchiha Clan," Sasuke continued, his voice flat, almost monotone. "But he is still of my blood. Namikaze Naruto and myself will be the ones to kill him, and once he has been killed, the clan of Uchiha, and all the victims of Uchiha Itachi, will be avenged. This I have pledged." His black eyes never met hers, instead staring off into the distance. Hinata felt a small chill shooting through her spine with the realization. He _wasn't _talking to her. His _true _audience lay silent in their coffins. Dead. Buried. Devoured by worms, maggots, and creatures of the earth that told no tales, as did their victims. Indeed, the dead told no tales, and Hinata was left to bear silent witness to Sasuke's eulogy. And all the while her disbelief and dismay flared into a fury that she had never before known.

Cold fury burned the world white.

"S-Sasuke?"

For a moment, she wavered. There was a black fury in Sasuke's eyes, one that cautioned against taking this conversation a singe step closer. Sasuke was growling, he'd growled at her. Sasuke never, ever growled at Hinata, and the density of his hatred all but crushed her when she looked into his eyes. **_SLAP!_** _Sasuke _staggered backward, stunned by the sudden imprint flashing across his face in all its five fingered glory and entirety. Hinata lowered her arm, eyes welling tears as she dragged her fingers into a fist and pulled that fist down to her sides. Sasuke blinked. Touched a hand to his cheek, stunned by this outlandish expression of grief; because Hinata, shy, gentle, meek _Hinata _had just slapped him across the face.

"Ouch." He muttered, suddenly cowed. "What the hell...was that for?" His voice broke in mid-sentence, the anger spiraling downward into misery, then outright dejection. What had he done to deserve that? He hadn't done anything! But Hinata was already speaking, and he found himself helpless once again as she balled both hands into fists of frustration and travesty, and shrieked. Sasuke felt the numbness thrust upon him with a sudden lost of feeling, driving away his depression with a cruel and merciless swiftness.

"I accept your declaration." She said after a moment, frozen, and without emotion. "And I accept that you are a fool, Uchiha Sasuke!" Sasuke gawped at the sudden outburst _-she's strange today- _but if he thought that it would end there, he was sorely mistaken. Hinata slapped him again when he reached for her, Sasuke felt the mark on his cheek scream in protest."I accept that Uchiha Itachi is to be held responsible for his crimes, and I accept that he does not act as an Uchiha any longer."

**_"However,"_**

She'd kept her head downtrend all this time. She hadn't let him see the tears, hadn't shown him her sorrow. Now, she put and end to that. Sasuke saw her raise her head, and the misery carved into that gentle visage broke something. Sasuke didn't have any way of explaining it, save for the fact that the incredible and searing pain in his chest felt ten times worse than Itachi's betrayal. Hinata was on the verge of tears but her voice was granite, stern, hard, unflinching, more-so than when she'd made a fool of the Kusa shinobi outside the gate. Sasuke didn't thik such a thing was possible, and it clearly was, because as he staggered back from her slap, she abandoned this tone in favor of one soft and gentle with_...something he daren't describe._

"I cannot accept," She sobbed, softly. "That you're beyond saving!

Sasuke felt a momentary spark of defiance.

"What the hell do you know-

Hinata quashed his defiance with her words.

"You think I don't know anything?" Hinata stared at him with eyes that welled, large with tears, but she refused to shed them. "Baka." She whispered softly. _"Sasuke no baka!"_Sasuke blinked, aghast as she shouted at him; she'd never, _never ever _shouted at anyone before. He couldn't take this. He couldn't suffer her gaze for another instant, but neither could he bring himself to turn away. Hinata held thrall over him with her words and her tears and his body, warring between outrage and disbelief, settled on middle ground. She knew that he would go blind. She knew that they hadn't found a way to reverse this inevitable loss of vision that would leave Sasuke a shell of his former self.

"You don't know this!" His voice cracked, and he discarded it as it rose in pitch. "You don't! You don't, Hinata!"

Sasuke plunged his hands into the depths of his darkness, and seized his secret. He felt himself gag against the effort taken. He felt those invisible spokes of fear and dread and rejection clamp down upon his thoughts and threaten to smother them as he forced the words from his throat before he could stop himself. He felt his chapped lips part within a ragged choking sound. He felt his perception of self shatter within the admittance, and felt all the anger and all the hatred and all the malice that Hinata had been working to combat, slipping through his fingers. With the confession no weight was there to drag her down, no words could ever express his relief and terror as the two emotions became one and left him stricken silent within the death of Hinata's confusion.

"Sas-uke?"

Sasuke glared, helplessly and felt himself wretch and roil and protest as Hinata came forward. He felt all these things and Hinata saw none of them as a million thoughts flickered through the Uchiha's face at the speed of sound. Inexplicably, his dread was replaced by exhaustion as he finally, finally gave voice to the burden that had plagued him for so long.

"I hope you heard that because I won't say it again." Sasuke's voice wavered for a moment before reclaiming its normal timbre. "Never again." The tension burst into a nameless sigh of relief as shards of sobbing and sighing and snifling emerged from the Uchiha's muffled mouth. Sasuke had flown both hands to his face, and at once, Hinata was enrapt with attention, her steely gaze of lavender and pearl softening as Sasuke began to tremble, uncontrollably. In a ragged breath, the Uchiha exhaled and covered his face within both hands. Even then the sound of grief was _barely _stifled. Hinata was thankful that they'd stopped standing on the underside of the branch, because Sasuke inexplicably slumped to both knees before she could reach him, and Sasuke began to weep.

Team Seven was a family for Hinata, and only her little sister, Hanabi, held such a place in her heart besides that group of three. Hence the reason Hinata tugged Sasuke forward. Sasuke stiffened and snifled as she _embraced _him with such fierceness she was certain she'd break her ribs all over again. For Hinata knew Sasuke, just as she knew Naruto. Difference being, that the Uchiha hadn't so much as a glimmer of hope while he wrestled with the pain and struggled with the strife, and fought desperately to come to terms that, the only blood family he had left was a cold blooded murderer. Naruto, who had family, even though they were gone, even though knew of them now, couldn't even begin to imagine what that must feel like. To have a bond was one thing. To _have _a bond, to have a thread of joy in your life that connected you to so many others at such a young age; and to have that bone thrust away from you in the innocence of youth..._unforgivable. _No Uchiha, no shinobi, no one, should ever have such a fate thrust upon them.

"It's okay," She shushed Sasuke when he refused to lay his chest against her, when he began to quiver from another flashback _-he'd begun to have them during waking hours- _and tried to explain what was tearing him apart, but the words were shards of the sharpest sorrow and they cut and stabbed and silenced when he tried to curl his fingers around them; to bring them to light. Sasuke was all of an inch from revealing an earth shattering secret as they hung there in the silence, and the secret hissed and shrieked and spat and refused to submit itself to revelation.

"It'll be alright." Hinata kept whispering in hushed tones, stroking Sasuke's hair in the way Mother had always done whenever Hinata had suffered such an outburst. "It'll all be alright."

Sasuke was hurting, and Hinata was just a centimeter off the mark, but it was close enough. He'd bear the burden, just for a little longer. Maybe if he lingered around Hinata long enough, he'd be able to bring this hideous truth of his to light. Sasuke was grateful for the darkness and he thanked the shadows for their presence. The darkness was a beautiful thing, but it would not tolerate light. The shades would wilt and wither in his heart if he ever revealed that truth, a truth he desperately wished to divulge, a truth that cut deeper than the words of Fugaku Uchiha as he'd praised Itachi always Itachi, and said that Sasuke should be more like Itachi and-

"Oi." One of Naruto's clones swung down from the branch, and the thought shattered. "You two alright?" Even in the darkness, Sasuke could see his face, his eyes, and suddenly he was unaccountably and irrevocably miserable. He grunted, bobbed his head, and the Namikaze, reluctantly, flung himself back up to the bough and resumed his preparations. Only Naruto would be so blindly trusting as to not question the reason for Hinata's sudden embrace, and Sasuke cursed his carelessness as he hung there in the dark.

_'Just how long will I be able to bear this burden?'_ He bore _that _burden, and the burden of living up to the expectations of a forgotten people. _'How long will I have to suffer like this?'_

Hinata knew all too well. Though she'd only known Sasuke for only all of a month, though she held no feelings of intimacy towards the Uchiha, Sasuke was practically an older sibling toward her. Nearly everyday she asked for help, whether it be with, training, advice, or even when she _didn't ask, _he was there. Shopping? Sasuke carried her bags. Lack of self-esteem? Sasuke looked like he was going to _murder _Neji for embarrassing her before the exam. Hinata was surprised he _hadn't_, actually. She'd seen the hate fleck across Sasuke's face when Neji's verbal assault battered at her defenses and her, he entertained no delusion as to whom Sasuke was hoping to fight first, before Naruto. Hinata wanted to be the one to fight that battle, to overcome that last bit of weakness that remained within her-self, but she wouldn't mind if either of the boys just-so-happened to face Neji fist.

"Thank you." His voice cracked on a sharp stacato of a sob, and then, Hinata knew she should release him. Sasuke appreciated the momentary comfort, hidden as they were, but such outward displays of emotion were awkward for anyone, especially him. He didn't even ask Hinata to keep silent about that, the look in her eyes already told Sasuke she would not ask. Well, he had a few years until any of that actually became noticeable, and surely he'd be able to explain before any of that happened, right?

There would be time for that later, after the exam. Sasuke steeled himself to take off in a drection that would launch him back into the treetops, a smile adjourning his features as Hinata prepared too, her chakra assisted leap into the canopy. Focused as they were, they never saw the attack coming, not until Hinata screamed bloody murder and by then it was already too late. Sasuke rounded on it, the sound her shrieks filling and encompassing Sasuke's world as he tried to turn.

_"Behind you!"_

Not a chance, as Sasuke rounded toward the sound of a boiler exploding. It was then that the noticed, all too late, the massive snake bearing down upon them. Sasuke whipped his gaze around when all the clones came boiling from their hiding places and descended upon the snake. Sasuke snatched Hinata from its jaws, severing the beast's tongue as he whisked past. Blood spurted across ground and was slurped up by the greedy soil as Sasuke came away with little more than a slash across the cheek. He had enough time to lay Hinata down, and check her vitals. Nothing less. Sasuke whipped his head around as a double-tsunami of blac and red engulfed the serpent, Naruto's clones emerging from hiding, swarming with a vengeance.

Hinata was sound asleep, made unconscious, but she was already coming around. Sasuke flicked some smelling salts from his pack and held them up before her nose. Hinata coughed and frowned, the Mangeykyo Sharingan leaping to life within Sasuke's eyes as he heard the footfalls. He barely got an arm up in time. Still, he couldn't stop the hand that closed around his wrist instead of face. Sasuke spun the war fan and kept it between them, scowling furiously as it shattered the man's skull. Only, it didn't and two blows later, Uchiha Sasuke flew into the tree trunk.

Sasuke was just starting to rise, when a kunai whisked past his face. By the time Sasuke had regained his bearings, Hinata was stumbling backwards from the freak's counterattack. Sasuke frowned as she struggled to regain her bearings, realizing that Naruto was still nowhere in sigh, save for the clones. Shitit was him, after all. The Grass ninja was _interrupted by_these clones. They were circling too close for comfort, and admittedly, some of them were sticking around the edges of the fight, no doubt spreading wires and shuriken.

Naruto's clones were a pale imitation of the original, and they didn't last. Sasuke twisted away from a reverse-blow and the last of the clones skidded to a halt beside him. Hinata chose that moment to jolt forward and strike at the Kusa's unprotected rear. Sasuke snapped his eyes open as he and the clone flung themselves into a series of taijutsu combo's so intense that the Kusa shinobi should've been mincemeat, not the other way around.

It took a moment for Sasuke to realize that the grinding sound was coming from his own molars.

_'Damnit!'_

"Son of a bitch!" Sasuke turned to find the serpent's master charging him. He froze as he saw that Kusagakure headband. Sasuke stole a glance at Hinata, risked another to the clearing, and snarled a strange and wordless snarl as he dropped the cloak and allowed it to fall aside. The katana slipped from its sheathe with a wordless rasp, and his thoughts and concerns fell away. Sasuke dipped down into a hurricane of fists and feet and fighting as he swept forward and brought his blade down to match that of the man coming for him.

Sasuke was a blur. He flashed left and right, and the shinobi blocked, but the two were blurs, never static, constantly moving. And Sasuke had the advantage. Though Naruto's clones popped almost a second after impact, they were enough to keep the Grass Shinobi of balance. More than enough, as Sasuke's sword found an arm, a leg, then a cheek. His margin of error was thin, but this ones was so much thinner.

His hiltless blade was all that stood between Sasuke and certain death. Sasuke took pride in his father's sword, and the fan of his ancestor. Sasuke felt a rib crack and winced as the Kusa Shinobi gave a weird wandering wobble to the side; somehow escaping the torrent of flames. Sasuke was losing patience rapidly. He was losing focus, losing sight, losing energy...and...and...

At the last instant, as the clone suffered a hit to the abdomen and _poofed_, Sasuke flung himself away. He'd suffered brusied ribs and god-knows-what-else, but their wasn't enough time, not enough of him to spread the defense a she hurtled a shuriken toward the Kusa shinobi, Mangekyo flickering behind the sight of it. The Kusa Shinobi paused for an instant, seeing double, then triple the projectiles as Hinata barreled into him from behind, hands up for a Jyuuken strike.

Finally, Sasuke began to show signs of fatigue. His strikes became sloppy. His attacks slowed. The clones were still present, but less thana dozen remained, and Sasuke was already beginning to grow weary as they ranged across the branches and boughs, exchanging blows and jutsu at blistering pace. The Grass ninja pushed past a feint, grabbed Sasuke's arm and twisted, locking a joint. His other hand drew back for a strike as Sasuk'e arched his own, and reamed his opponent across the face.

_"Nrgh!"_

One of Naruto's clones chose that moment to swing in from behind, and, as it slid past, the Kusa shinobi lost his foot. Sasuke slammed his head back for a second time. This time, he was rewarded with the sickening sound of breaking bone, and then he was freed, seals forming, lungs filling with air. Sasuke spun in the same instant that a streak of white blue filled his vision. Then the light arched into his unwitting victim, distracting him as a suddenly, awake, alive and conscious Hinata, flung him aside and flung herself into a rotation.

The Kusa Shinobi offered a pleased hiss.

"Good, good," the Grass shinobi murmured as he blocked another combo from the Uchiha heir. "Your skills have progressed nicely!" The overly familiar tone of voice _annoyed _Sasuke more than it should, and he swept forward with a wordless shriek of discomfort and fear. The Grass shinobi was about to reiterate, when the claws found his face, depriving it of childish affectation. Hinata crashed down on the Kusa shinobi, a small wisp of flame leaving her palms as she imbued them with chakra.

"Bothersome," He began in annoyance, only to stiffen as Sasuke's gaze held him transfixed. "You are a-

_"Fool." _Hinata echoed, thrusting a digit directly into his tenketsu points_._

_"Impossible!"_

Hinata got him good. Sasuke watched, and felt a surge of pride as she pivoted around the freaky genin, evading a sweeping blow that would have sent an ox into the next prefecture. She connected and suddenly her opponent realized that they were facing an upper Chunin level opponent. But at the last second the freaky genin pivoted and drove a back-kick into her stomach. Hinata was nearly driven from her feet as she spun about, and driving her heel into the shinobi's kneecap with follow-up spin-kick that was as deadly as it was lethal.

His knee bent inward.

"Ah." Its androgynous voice sighed. "I see you have some bite to back up that bark." Hinata swung the man's flailing leg around and Hinata nailed every tenketsu point there before diving forward in a rolling somersault that practically brought her within his reach. That sneer vanished an instant later as the first two strikes drilled through his modified body and found the coils beneath, and the chakra they carried to his arms and legs and entire circulatory system.

_"Hakke Rokujūyon Shō!"_

The next instant the Hyuuga heiress blurred into motion as she attacked.

"Two strikes!"

Hinata smoothly blocked and countered and they began an elaborate dance, Hinata's blows each punctuated with agonizing bursts of chakra as she launched strikes designed to shred internal organs. Sasuke, even with the Mangekyo, could barely keep up with their movements, despite all the time they'd spent sparring with Hinata. Their moves interlocked time and time again, but Hinata was clearly expecting those feints and counter blows, and she was always limber enough to sweep away from a debilitating blow.

"Four Strikes!"

But that freak presented the two members of Team Seven with a second, more chilling realization. He was even faster than they'd thought. Hinata was holding her own, but Sasuke feared for what one of those blows would do to her body, should they connect. Hinata made it to nearly thirty-two strikes before Sasuke felt her being to falter. He burst forward and bruptly, the Grass Shinobi found himself fighting a war on two fronts. One, with the Hyuuga, left him just one mis-step away from disaster. He could feel the chakra bursts from here they were nothing like the weaker spikes of those that Branch family boy had used on him. Those blows would numb his arm for a short time, even shorter if he expended the effort to keep the limbs.

"Thirty-Two Strikes!"

These blows were intended to maim, if not kill.

But the Uchiha's damnable genjutsu was pushing him closer and closer to the brink. Someone must have taught these children the shadow clone jutsu, because abruptly there were more Hinatas' as there were Sasuke's, and each of them were determined to keep him in close combat. Still, Hinata held off his attacks, and her counter blows were leaving bruises, placing him on the defensive, backing him into a corner he hadn't expected to enter. This girl was asburdly strong! Hinata was fighting at such a level that Sasuke felt awe as he watched her bob and weave amongst the the tirade of blows that rained down upon her, none of which did enough damage to put her down.

The the boot found Sasuke's clavicle.

Sasuke, to his credit, tried to hold on, but the attack just hurt so damn bad, and then he was gone, fying backward. Hinata wanted to look but she was also afraid of distracting herself now, when at a fatal moment such as this, she could end this shinobi. She dropped her weights with wordless cry and aabruptly levered one palm forward, her sleeve sliding aside. Sasuke watched from where he lay as the knife slide from its spring loaded holster and found flesh.

The Grass shinobi spat blood as his throat was pierced, as Hinata retreated. Instead of swearing, he tittered softly and turned his gaze toward the treetops. Amusement flecked across his features as a jold of wind sliced through the soil where he'd stood moments before. Hinata flung herself away just as another blade of wind flung through the air and smashed across the Kusa Shinobi's chest, but did nothing more than draw out..._laughter._

**"It seems my friend wasn't as reliable as I'd thought."**

"You need to hire better help." A familair voice resounded through the clearing at the same time in which one Namikaze Naruto burst into view amongst the treetops. "We already made short work of it and now its your turn." Incredibly, he wasn't alone. Much to the disbelief of Sasuke, and of Hinata, he had three different shinobi accompanying his arrival. Glimpsed through the throng of Kage Bunshin that populated the branches, Sasuke gawped as he recognized none other than Nii Yugito, Fu Kamikaze, and Sabaku no Gaara. Their stances were that of those who were aware of one another, given their surprising lack of agression toward each other at the moment.

"Oho?" Kusa peered into the branches with thinly veiled amusement. "More insects led to the slaughter, I see."

If Naruto was at all riled by this jibe, he did little to show it.

"Four, actually." Naruto said, the throng of clones thinning, presenting everyone with a better view of the four jinchuuriki. Naruto cracked a charming smile, and pushed both arms forward. There was no attack forthcoming. Instead he closed his eyes, raised both hands, five fingers splayed on the right, and four to the left, holding one underneath the other to indicated the number nine with those fingers before his face, and chest.

"The Will of Fire starts the cycle." Rinnegan leveled upon the shinobi with terrifying intent. "The Leaves catch fire and are blown away upon the wind." Gaara held one finger before his face. "The Wind carries the leaves from their branches and brings them to the sky." Yugito raised two digits and smiled as she continued for them, "The Cloud caresses the leaves and lays them down within the water's embrace." Last but certainly not least, Fu exhaled furiously and raised her right hand with two fingers and placed it before the left and upon the palm of her five fingers. "The waterfall takes hold of the leaf and brings oblivion to all those who did wish to bring it harm."

"Leaf."

"Wind."

"Cloud."

"Waterfall."

Naruto was standing at the forefront of this two-man two-women cell, arms folded imperiously, Rinnegan locked upon the Kusa Shinobi. Like the others, he was veritably oozing chakra, although these new allies of his remained unaffected by the tainted energies. Sasuke, on the other hand, was not quite as immune. Why on earth was Gaara here? Gaara, of all people? He counted four jinchuuriki, to many to be here and none of them should be here.

"Naruto!" Sasuke bellowed up at his ally. "Its about damned time!"

"Speak for yourself!" Naruto laughed. "Now get back for a bit, we'll handle this guy."

Below, the false Kusagakure nin sneered.

"Are you going to stand there all day, little one?"A sickening smile spread across its face. "Or do I have to come to you?"

Naruto flung a hand forward.

**"Shinra Tensei!"**

Orochimaru was hurled away as if all the force of a hurricane had been unleashed in his face. He tumbled end over end, sliding and rolling across the branch until he slapped against its bark. By then, it was already much too late. Sasuke had been struggling to his feet before, but that blast had given him all the time he he needed to activate his Sharingan. With a furious snap-hiss, the tomoe faded in and out of appearance, birthing blackness, and crimson, and the star flared into existence.

"NOW!" Naruto flung an arm and hoisted it over his shoulder."Retreat for now, both of you!"

"Never." Sasuke rumbled furiously, eyes bleeding as his voice cracked again.

"Tsukiyomi." Sasuke glared through bleeding eyes, and Orochimaru was lost. He felt the first pinprick of pain as Hinata finisher her combination. He felt chakra coils darken and die as they severed from connection with his chakra. He felt the cold numbness swelling within his chest as the word faded to negatives and became polarized. Without chakra, bound within a genjutsu as he was, he could not dispel. His mind gone, Orochimaru staggered with an infinite lack of grace; flailing wildly as Hinata followed through on the combination, her hands smothered in chakra.

This chakra took on the distinctive shape of two lionheads, formed entirely of bluish white energy. It was dense. He saw through fading eyes. So dense that it was nearly solid; as was Sasuke's most loathed technique, Amateratsu. Fear found itself slaughtered by hope as Sasuke's left eye snapped open. He saw the sanin begin to rallly against Hinata's ambush, saw the flicker of hesitation in her eyes as she flung herself away, flung herself back, and Sasuke didn't think.

He acted and upon this action, Orochimaru screamed.

"Amateratsu!" Sasuke squinted horribly as the chakra emanated from his opened eye and locked upon Orochimaru. The sanin reached blindly for Sasuke, the Uchiha staring mirthlessly into the man's face as a terrible and brackish power descended upon his body. Fire. Not just any fire, black fire, black flames, roiling over Orochimaru and burning with such intensity that Hinata had to throw herself aside as the encumbered sanin flopped onto the branch and lay there.

Hinata saw the flames and flung herself away.

"Get away from him!" Naruto waved his hand back and forth, claiming Hinata's attention just in time. "Now! Get over here, SASUKE!"

**"Tsukiyomi."**Sasuke snarled, locking his gaze around the sanin. "Get out of this one, you piece of trash."

Orochimaru froze as those eyes found him and held him in their power. Within a blink, Naruto, the jinchuuriki, Sasuke, Hinata, everyone was gone. The false Kusagakure shinobi staggered upright from the sudden genjutsu, just in time to catch the groups chakra receiding into the distance. He flung himself after them, determined to corner his prey before they could escape. But they were already gone, and all that was heard throughout the forest was a furious breeze carrying away the shriek of fury and frustration as he writhed in agony.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke stood over him and leered furiously, unaware of the sudden twitch in the man's neck. Naruto saw. Naruto flung himself forward and pushed Sasuke aside. Naruto felt the fangs clamp down on his neck as he lashed out to thrust Hinata away. Naruto felt the molten steel in his veins as the black flames began to abate from Orochimaru's flesh. Naruto felt and saw and experienced all of this, all of the chakra coursing through his veins, and he used it against its master.

It took all he had and more to thrust Orochimaru away from them.

_"Shinra..._**TENSEI!" **Naruto thundered. Suddenly Orochimaru was hurtling through branch after branch flung through the forest. Naruto thrust him out of sight and brough the trees down upon him with an earth wrenching tear. Sasuke sobbed wordlessly beside him, and Naruto had only an instant to turn his head and witness the Curse Mark of Heaven blossoming against his shoulder. Then came the pain. Naruto screamed as the pain came and washed the world away, as Gaara stepped out and caught him with the sand, cradling him from the black flames.

Naruto screamed and screamed until the pain left him and there was only the blackness. There was only the wind, and Naruto took that wind and fled from reality as his companions watched him shake and shudder and writhe as his body rebelled against this foreign influence. Naruto screamed a final time, aware of Sasuke stooping over him. Aware of the bloody tears gleaming from those downward turned eyes of crimson and garnet. Naruto tasted those blood drops upon his tongue as Sasuke watched helplessly as his friend descended into madness and torment.

Briefly, Naruto's eyes lit against the pain.

"Gods...Sasuke...you're...ridiculous." Naruto laughed through his teeth, and then he was overwhelmed. Naruto screamed, one final time, and sought slumber. Peace, sanity, safety, any means offering escape from the agony that consumed him. He was aware of being held, lifted up, cradled...

But even that, too, was lost in the nothingness of his dream...

**A/N: And so passes round one with Orochimaru! Now Naruto and co, AND the jinchuuriki have to take shelter with one another. Naruto's abou to reveal just what happened while he was out, and the fate of Orochimaru will be revealed in the next chaper! Secrets will be revealed, gifts given, and even stranger techniques mastered. LOL at compression jutsu, hahaha that does make it easy to carry things, no?**


	9. Forest of Death III: Light and Dark

**Today I will address a very bothersome flamer to the anonymous reviewer known as: _() ,_who keeps flaming my fics, lessee...um...I DON'T GIVE A SHIT? Okay, now that we've dealt with one asswipe, lets move on, shall we? We'll finally get them out of that hellish forest of Death now! There will be much more action in this chappy, but don't worry, Naruto will have his chance to repay Orochimaru for that nast little love bite in the near future. XD.**

**Anyway, thank u SO much for all the love this story has been getting! Thank you! Thank you all! And if any of you have a hankering for Bleach, be sure to check out "Snowfall" and "Catalyst" they're the other projects I am focusing the majority of my time on at the moment, seeing as I've FINALLY gotten a vacation from my job. FURTHERMORE! We're going to see a rare fight here that will remind ya'll that this story is AU! If, for any reason, Naruto, Yugito, etc, any other mani character, has brief moments of WTF and actual lucidity in the chaos of this chapter, well, there ye be.**

**Now lets get this party started, dattebayo!**

_Of the Light and Dark_

"How did this happen to me?"

Fu sighed as she lay there, strung out within her hammock of ferns and leaves. Stretched beneath the branches like the vines that held her in place. Restless, she stirred from her rest and she peered through the canopy in search of something; anything to wrest this strange sensation from her heart. Tiny and infinitismal, numbing somewhere in the hundreds of thousands; pinpricks and specks the like of which she'd seen many a time before, eventually captured her attention. Fu gazed up at the stars exhaling softly; because her questions were more numerous than the heavenly bodies shining down on them this night.

But the stars did not answer her.

"Can't sleep?"

Someone else did.

Fu yelped.

_"Godmanit Shit!"_

Yelped, as she twisted in her hammock and found herself face to face with someone she hadn't noticed. Too late for that now, as her vision swelled with auburn eyes and flaxxen blond hair. Nii Yugito, fellow jinchuuriki and temporary ally, smiled pleasantly down at Fu, without a care in the world. Framed by the firelight, she somehow quelled her fury and fought off her initial urge to rip the blondie's face from her shoulders.

_'Why me, Kami? What have I done to deserve this?'_

Though they adjourned the sky above, the stars offered no answer. Fu frowned. Sat up, twisted amongst her makeshift bed of leaves. Yards to the right, her erstwhile companions shifted restlessly. It seemed that they, too, were having difficulty sleeping. Especially one Nii Yugito, given that the latter's visage loomed only mere centimeters from her own. Scrambling backward, the Nanabi vessel took another minute to compose herself before finally speaking.

"...you shouldn't startle people like that."

She hesitantly rasied two fingers in greeting.

Fu returned the gesture uneasily, a jagged and hesitant scowl coming to her lips as she rose from her place at their campfire. Yugito's expression was uncharecteristically dour. Distracted, Fu pretented to be gazing at the stars as the buxom blond approached. She puckered her lips at the words; the thoughts of the alliance she had so desperately thrust herself at the stars. She spared a glance to the mouth of their shelter; the mouth being patrolled almost constantly by someone constantly renewing their vigil as they stood watch. Namikaze Naruto lay within _that_ bough of branch and bark, sleeping fifitull. Fu felt a sudden and hollow enormity swelling within her chest at the thought of his suffering. Now, here, at this very moment, Fu wanted nothing more than to abandon her post and reach out to him and remind him of his importance to her existence.

"Are you alright?"

Fu reached through empty air, her lips parting and closing within an infinite slowness. She reached for him, just as he'd reached out to her yesterday. But this time, her fingers closed on nothingess; on emptiness and despair, and she was left alone amidst her memories and the misery.

"No, not really...

She closed her eyes of jade and emerald and remembered the painful events leading up to their alliance:

_(Flashback/ Several hours earlier...) _

_She thundered down the gauntlet towards him, knowing not why he was here. Uncertain, as to why he was alone. Or why he was alone. Fu knew only that Namikaze Naruto was here and he was less than pleased as he turned to face her sudden charge._

_"You were a fool to face me alone!" She cackled._

_Naruto offered a baleful smile that chilled her to the bone._

_"Whoever said I was fighting alone?"_

_Naruto smirked as his chakra cloak seized the hilt. Fuu followed his gaze and hissed in surprise as the transparent hand hurled the blade forward and brought it crashing down. At this angle, there was no way for her to dodge in time. With one arm buried in the muck and the other held firmly in place, there was no chance of a block. Fuu's eyes had narrowed dangerously again, and the acrimony smell of static discharge was palpable in the air._

_Rage flickered across her features as the shadow of the zanbato blotted out the light._

_"You-**!"**_

_It felt as though he'd slashed through syrup. Just when Kubikiri Houcho should've split her skull, it glanced harmlessly aside and slid a centimeter to the right, just three feet shy of the mark. Naruto did the obvious came flying backward. Whisking past his face, the deadly steel opened a small slit in his cheek as it shot past and wedged itself into a tree. Taking what was left of the blade, and casting it aside, the Kyuubi claw shoved all the energy he had been collecting into the kunoichi._

_Fuu opened her mouth and spat._

_Naruto had less than an instant to register the flash of gold at the back of her throat. Kyuubi screamed at him to move. He dropped flat, releasing the genjutsu and as a result, Fuu. Had he failed to do so, he would've been obliterated. Within a tearing inhuman scream, a massive flare of chakra leapt from her lips. Prostrate as he was, Naruto followed the blast with his eyes, and watched it plow into the ground, and was left dumbstruck for would be the first time since he'd met his fellow container._

_Shining outward in a massive column of light, the blast cut through several trees before finally dissipating. Apparently satisfied by the level of destruction, Fuu shut her mouth and licked her lips in an all too suggestive manner. Naruto felt disgust flare up inside his chest, and then they were back within a hurricane of fists and feet. Crimson and saffron met, merged, and riocheted wildly within the night each no more than a hairsbreadth from one another, shrouded as they were within their cloaks._

_'How the hell is she doing this?'_

_Kyuubi was equally irked by the sudden turnaround as Fuu unlocked her jaw._

_**"Watch it kit!"**_

_"There's something you might need to know as a fellow Jinchuuriki." Naruto scowled in disbelief as saffron chakra roiled out of the girl's back. "This is fairly well known, so you can decide whether to tell your Hokage about it or not. Each of us are incredibly powerful in our given element. Yours happens to be water, with a slight tendency to wind and fire. Wanna know mine?" Fuu's eyes flew wide open at this, before a small chuckle escaped her._

_"Lightning."_

_Naruto had already begun to turn and defend himself, but he never heard the final word. Instead, the world flared a bright and painful white as the phantom limb smashed into his stomach, and Fuu's heel slammed into his neck. Confounded by the impossible combination, the redhead was launched, spiraling head over heels into the nearest tree. The bark was old and it splintered as his back took the brunt of the impact, until three trees later, Naruto found himself wedged into a ridiculous postion in the smoldering hollow of a decrepit oak._

_Fuu was laughing._

_"How about that, huh, Namikaze?"_

_It was particularly dry and full of contempt._

_Naruto swore, eyeing the deep crevasse that had been his last known position._

_"Shit!" Naruto tried to rise, but another bolt caught him in the chest. It didn't hit any vitals, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. Another one was hurtling toward him when Naruto thrust a wall of invisible pressure between him and the onrushing bolt. Shinra Tensei or not, Fu wedged her blunted claws into the bark and withstood the blast. Naruto frowned. Well, that was knew. He had all of an instant to blink as she bolted forward and rammed a fist into his solar plexus._

_"How's it feel, eh, Namikaze!"_

_'I don't care! Give me the power! Now!'_

_Fuu chuckled once more in that dry, contemptuous manner._

_"Well then Namikaze, I'm afraid you've lost." The last sentence had been spit as if almost poisonous; the word "lost" causing Fuu's eyes to shatter once more into compound lenses. Throughout all of her explanation, the sound of crackling electricity intensified, but this time Naruto was prepared. As the gold lightning boiled out of the Nanabi's cloak, Kyuubi was there to greet it. Within a sudden and soft shuddering snarl, Naruto stripped away the chains of bondage he'd wrought upon himself within the last month and the seal reappeared._

_**"Fine. Here comes the burn, fool."**_

_Crimson poured from his body and the jinchuuriki cloak flared to life with not one, but two tails of crimson. Foaming out from the seal, wrapping around him, forming the impenetrable armor known only as the demon shield. Naruto took that energy and flung it outward in a timbre-shattering roar, a veritable wall of sound. Fuu shrieked in disbeilef as her element glanced harmlessly off the chakra coat and was repelled with such force that even she, with two tails of her own, stood no chance of reflecting it._

_**"RAAAAAAAARRRRRGH!"**_

_Naruto's strangled scream suffused itself into a snarl as his pupils snapped into venomous crimson slits. He dropped down on all fours, Rinnegan boiling back into blackness as features sharpened. His claws lengthened. Twice, a cracking snap, and his canine teeth parted within a furious bellow. His skin boiled and bubbled as the Kyuubi Cloak wrapped his body within a thin sheathe of flame. Fu took all of a single step bacward and couldn't berathe. She couldn't bring herself to blink, balk, or even block as the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki roared, such was the primal fear invoked within. Naruo hissed, hissed as though he truly were a monster, and then he was flashing left and right, tearing forward, driving deep and sclarlet wedges into the ground as he barreled toward Fu at an impossible speed._

_Fu couldn't move._

_"Th-This...This is..._

_Fu gazed into those eyes and she was afraid. She was afraid, as her fellow vessel glared at her over the scarlet ruby red that was all biju chakra and nothing in between. She was afraid; because she had never seen a fellow jinchuuriki in a Two-Tailed State. This chakra was abominable. Monstrous. Inhuman! it didn't even bother to dodge the bolt of lightning screaming toward him; he plowed right through and kept on going, easily evading the hail of elelctricity around him; such was her aim, such was if affected by the terror his transformation had instilled in her heart._

_"I...I...I..!"_

_Naruto thundered down the gauntlet and then he was upon her. The world flared white as he brought a chakra covered hand/claw tearing toward her face. Fu brought an arm up and watched the limb flop away from her, neatly severed at the elbow. Disbelief filled her face. And then Naruto descended and she was ascending, hurtling through the trees in a wild and erratic flight that left the branches to tear at her legs and shred at her clothing, all the while the huge claw of chakra pushing her up, up, upward..._

_THUNK!_

_Fu gagged on her own blood as she finally hit a tree solid enough to withstand Naruto's chakra. She felt the rust emotion of respect flaking upon her lips, smoldering away in place of her armour. Such a thought pumped acid into himpact. But the claw wasn't done with her, not yet. Five digits clamped down, binding her to bark and a mocking parody of a cocoon they maintained their vice to her body and burned, burning her chest and breasts and stomach and her back as she was forced deeper and deeper into the tree, into death, into darkness..._

_What the hell happened?_

_**Snick!**_

_With a shuddering hiss, the massive claw of chakra retracted. Deprived of her balancepoint Fu slammed facefirst into the tree. Branch met bone and body as she crumpled forward, limp and unmoving. Fu groaned aloud as something made a successful attack; no less than a centimeter from her skull. She whimpered as a fist boiled into the wood and came away, unharmed. There was only silence as his fist ground into the bark, and came. Fu choked, sobbed, laying there in a broken heap, beaten, again. She held onto the lingering hope that he'd kill her and bring it all to an end while he could._

_"Kill me." She sobbed, disgusted by her own weakness. "Just kill me, damnit! I can't stand looking at you!"_

_"No." His voice boiled over her body and she convulsed as it aroused the monster sealed inside. "For that is not mercy." Fu groaned as a serrated claw delicately traced her figure, lingering on her hips, breasts and neck, finally cupping her chin and forcing her eyes to snap open in disbelif. Naruto loomed over her, two tails of chakra boiling out of his body, titanic in his confidence and magnificent in all his power, a power that now coalesced across his right hand, forming five seals across his fingers._

_"This," the deity announced, his words dripping with sarcasm, is mercy." Fu screamed as he slammed a hand into her blouse, thrusting it through the seal located upon her chest. The Nanabi vessel did not know what he did, only that there was no pain. No pain, but the opposite. It felt as though her body were being caressed at every angle, and a deep, penetrating vibration rattled her bones. With a final wrenching tear, eclipsed by a soft whimper from its victim, Naruto tore his hand out of the seal, revealing a bloodied forearm._

_Fu felt her breathing begin to ease, the pain subsiding as a series of marks appeared over the Celestial Seal between her breasts. Naruto didn't look at them, he looked at her with those eyes of pure and rippling violet, the Kyuubi's chakra shredding away from his body with nar a sound. Fu blinked, touched a hand to her chest. Blinked again, touched the dip of her her blouse, cupped her chin. Biiju leered at Biiju and jinchuuriki stared back at jinchuuriki._

_Naruto smiled, and it was the first smile of kindness that Fu had ever received._

_"Good night, Fu." Naruto whispered._

_Fu fell into slumber before she could finish her sentence._

_"Good...niiiiiiii..._

_She waited for that blissful blackness but it never came. She opened her eyes, aware of of a pressure on her hips, of something rough against her thighs. Fu lay that way for some time. Eventually, she creaked an eye open and remembered. Her cloak falling off her body in shame and embarrassment as her pride was crushed beneath the power of her opponent; she remembered being filled with rage and fear and despondency as she forced herself to attack once more, gambling on one last chance at victory._

_"So you're awake." Naruto's voice rose from somewhere in the darkness beside her. Fu turned to find him licking his wounds, knees, pulled into his chest. She mirrored the action, scooting toward him in search of warmth. He smiled and she froze; wary of those rippling eyes that had already crushed her twice before. The redhead lingered there in the darkness for a moment longer before standing, woodenly, not taking enough care._

_He held a hand out to her._

_"Come with me."_

_"Wha?" Fu stared up at him, her wide, frightened eyes taking in the hardened warrior jinchuuriki who'd once been the most bitter of her enemy. She felt her world crumble; the subsuquent offer of love life and happiness proving too much for her to comprehend. Kinship. Her gaze flickered to his hand; uncertain, desperately seeking out his face seconds after the fact, as though she feared that within the next breath his retreating form would be gone fromthe hollow tree in which they had taken shelter._

_"Stop lying." She whispered. "I hate you."_

_Naruto paused, lingering just so that the light create a silhouette for her to approach. Suddenly he was all smiles and tenderness again and Fu wanted to weep. He simply opened his palm and hung a arm into the blackness, reaching for her across the distance that sepearated them._

_"I'm not." He let the statement hang, unadorned, between them. "Lying to you, that is."_

_Fu came three steps forward._

_Paused._

_'I can't,'_

_She hesitated, and eyed the hand he'd extended warily. _

_"I said, come with me, Fu." Naruto smiled and spoke softly to Fu Kamikaze, his words a gentle trickle of compassion so different from the rapidity of hatred Fu had seen only minutes ago. She hung her head at these words, trying to decipher the feelings churning through her chest. You're not alone now, Fu...She could feel the immediate and familiar rise of contempt for her opponent at the mere concept of this pitying of her. …Come withme…she could also sense the rusty emotion of respect for him , for this fighter who was fueled by love rather than rage._

_...but what if he was telling the truth…And, almost completely eclipsed by these two other emotions, Fu could feel the longing for a companion, for someone to talk to, for someone to ease the aching hatred of her lonely existence.…where's the happiness in that?_

_Perhaps for someone to love her, even when she fell._

_The sudden realization that she was even considering herself to be weak brought a wave of disbelief to Fu's mind with the ferocity of a great and dark tempest. Numbed by her opponent's mercy, Fu timidly took his hand, and pulled her fingers into Naruto's palm. Her gaze locking, looking in his eyes, those gentle, matchless Rinnegan pleading for an answer. For an end to all the hatred and death and violence that had plagued the shinobi world for far too long. Fu allowed him to take her hand, for all of a moment before she flung her arms around him with all the strength a jinchuuriki possesed. Naruto gave a small croak of pain when she released him, leaving Fu to consider that she might have squeezed too hard._

_Fu didn't mind._

_Fu didn't mind at all as she cleaved herself against him, everything that was soft and supple and womanly pressed flush against Namikaze Naruto. She didn't mind it all when their lips met with enough force to jar their teeth. If she's held any reservations, they all but vanished in that instant as she tasted his tongue against her own. She wasn't quite sure who had initiated the kiss, but she knew it was she who broke away, blushed, and sighed. It was she who meekly allowed him; permitting him to loop an arm in hers, , and finally allowed herself to be led out of the darkness..._

_(End FLashback)_

"So you ran into him too, huh?" Yugito's voice gently plucked Fu from her thoughts.

Fu blinked and her eyes were moist. She touched a hand to her cheek, unable to believe that these, these were tears. The memories of her battle; mingled with her misery and dejection. She heaved her body off the hammock and descended toward the motionless Yugito.

"I take it you experienced something similair?" The Nibi vessel wore an amused smile as her fellow host swung down onto the branch beside her. "You have the same _misty-eyed_ look you did before."

Fu flushed.

"I...have no idea what you're talking about."

Yugito only smiled and patted the bough beside her.

"C'mere." She stated simply.

_"Nani?"_

"While he's recovering, I'll tell you how we met."

"You met Naruto-kun?" A timid voice interjected suddenly, causing Fu to stiffen ever so slightly. But there was no need. Even as she looked on, Hinata Hyuuga peeled back the thin veil of vines that had served to obscure -with the assistance of the snakes- their little hidey-hole.

"Sure did." Yugito supplied. "I suppose I can tell you the story too, but wouldn't your friend want to hear it as well?"

Hinata was positively pink.

"Ano...Sasuke-chan...erm, Sasuke-kun hasn't left Naruto's side since..._that happened." _She fiddled with her fingers at the mention of Naruto's comatose state. Truth be told, she couldn't bear to look at him; not when he looked as though he might plunge into another nightmare at any given moment.

"Fair enough." Yugito shrugged as the Hyuuga settle in beside the two of them, pulling her knees into her chest. The lavender eyed heiress faltered for a moment under the intensity of Fu and her wide eyed glare before finally gathering her resolve, enough so that she might speak.

"W-When did you meet him?"

"Oh, only a few hours ago, actually."

Both girls stiffened.

_"What?"_

"Save the questions for the end." Yugito snapped, her tone brooked no argument; nor did it allow permit inquisition. "Alright?" Hinata looked as though she might say more, but she inclined her head in polite defference. Fu bit her tongue and grumbled something beneath her breath, but likewise, remained silent. Pleased by their obedience, the elder kunoichi reached across the expanse between the three of them, her fingers brushing the very edges of the fire with a stick.

Momentarily stoked, the embers flared a strange bluish black, lending her visage a ghastly pallor.

"It all started when, in this very forest, he tried to kill me...

**A/N: Hope ya like that! Sorry if its short, my health has just not been good AT ALL as of late. The flashbacks will be wrapped up some more in the next two chapters or so, so do not worry! All will be explained! The next chapters will be a great deal longer, but for now, some flashbacks are neccessary to explain and perservere the continuity! Ja ne!**


	10. Revived

**A/N: Ohmygoshi! Remember me? Remember this story? Flipped and a coin and...THIS IS THE NEXT ONE TO BE UPDATED! We're taking a break from all those silly little flashbacks for this chappy, to remind ya'll who its about. I know you all have very many questions but please, hold them until the end of the chapter. I've worked supremely hard on this one, and will gladly answer any and all of your questions, provided they are coherent and sensible and so and so forth. Ah, who am I kidding?! Ask away!**

**And, of course, enjoy!**

_"I've got a bad feeling about this..._

_~Namikaze Naruto._

**Revived**

Even as Yugito Nii weaved a cautionary tale as to how she and the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki had come to be allies, said jinchuuriki was writhing in agony. Not physically of course. They would have noticed his pain, attempted to come to his aid. No, the agony he endured was not of the body, but of the mind. Of the spirit. Of the heart; an eternal hell of white hot agony that seemed to stretch on unto eternity. Three sources of chakra warred within him: amongst them the traditional white-blue that all shinobi possessed and the scintilating scarlet shroud of his tenant, trickling through the seal left behind by the Yondaime's will.

A third, violent violet chakra warred against both, struggling to assert itself over them. Were one to sense it, were one to experience it with the five senses, they would've said thus: it reeked of madness. This chakra, it held a will of its own, a will of another; a raging, mindless bloodlust nearly equal to that of the biju. It was a tainted, corrupted power, and it had no business being in his body. But it was,,within him, and his very being strove with all his strength to drive it out. And in its haste to expunge the tainted chakra, his mind was left to its own devices. To madness.

When Namikazer Naruto dared open his eyes, it was bright.

"Where am I?"

Much, much too bright to be considered natural.

He recognized this place. The white-gold warmth suffused him; his flesh gloried in the light. He moved through the tunnel with sure and easy steps. Eagerness without hurry. Gentle fingers traced his eyes. Someone shrieked. Regrets. Sorrow. Darkness. Cold. He blinked away the nightmare. Shivered. Let the white-gold hold him again and wash it all away. A myriad of otherwordly senses trickled in and out of the eerie white and cascaded over the stones.

He was having...a vision?

**"Now we begin."**

_Kyuubi?_

With cruel and terrifying swiftness, the nightmare returned and this time, it brought the voices.

_"Grab his arms, Hidan. I'll take the legs."_

Fear.

_"Oi! Kakuzu! Shut up! It's not my fault if you drop him!"_

There was a great and terrible fear as whomever it was was stared through darkness._ Where are they? Where am I? Why is it so dark? Why can't I see them? Why can't I see? I CAN'T SEE!_ It took Naruto only an instant to realize what had happened as he felt the flicker of uncertainty boiling into abject terror within the the man's chest. He was male, for this voice was surely masculine, and he could feel and experience the man's pain as he was rudely dragged across a roughly hewn floor.

Something terrible was about to happen.

_They're going to kill me!_ Bile rose from the trench that was his throat and Naruto smothered it with an acid of his own as the man dissolved into mindless babbling. _Damnit! Damnit all to hell! I don't want to die! I don't wanna die! Someone! Anyone! Please! NO! Oh Kami! No! Not like this! Not because of this...thing! I never wanted this power! I never wanted this monster inside me!_ Naruto didn't trust his voice at that moment as he felt his heart shrivel up and blow away with the wind.

_'Oh...shit.'_

This monster inside me?

_'Shit.'_ He didn't have time to think about that now and if he stopped to think then he'd never move again. _'Shit shit shit shit..._

For a moment the man rallied against the fear. A cold and unsettling numbness settled over him, and indirectly, the same shroud draped itself upon Uzumaki Naruto. In this brief instant the man was calm, relaxed, one could even say serene. There was no fear to be had, only a dreadful void of silence within the agony. Sielnce. Listening intently to the voices and murmurs around him. Naruto found himself straining to pick up any word as well, any snippet of conversation that might reveal the man's location.

"Who the hell are you?"

Naruto couldn't help it. He recoiled. Somehow the watched had become aware of the watcher, and now they reached out to him. But he couldn't bear the emotions conveyed by this connection. Hope, sudden and desperate hope, exuded from the man's ever pore as Naruto's mind created a rough composite sketch of the speaker. The man was heavily armored, and bore a hitiate, one that looked a great deal like Iwagakure's, so Kyuubi's infinite knowledge supplied and claimed.

"Are you someone like me?"

**"How does it feel?" **Bitter venom filtered into the voice of his invisible guide.**"Knowing you can do nothing? Knowing that this man is about to die? Knowing you have to watch? If you'd listened to me, you wouldn't have to see any of this. I warned you, kit. I told you not to touch anything in this realm. But if you refuse to listen then you'll have to watch. Look and see, foolish human. This is what your ignorance costs you. Watch. Watch and weep as one of your kin and my bretheren die and you are forced to bear witness."**

_'I-I can't!'_

**"You can and you shall." **Kyuubi's prescence withdrew from his mind.** "I will not tolerate weakness. Not from anyone. Certainly not from you."**

"PLEASE!"

"Farwell."

Naruto wanted it to stop. He wanted it to end. Mercilessly, the scenario played out before him. Mercilessly, his senses remained. Mercilessly, he was drawn back and forced to bear witness. Dread came coiling around him like a python, constricting his throat and chest; rendering him mute before the end of a stranger that he didn't know, and yet this man knew him. He gagged as the scene sharpened, focused, and narrowed. Revealing a dimly lit cavern housing something huge and grotesque and very, very large. A statue. A perverse and distorted humanoid statue with as many eyes as fingers. Its hands were stretched outward, palms upturned, and for each finger, a shadowy figure had a place to stand, a place to watch as the man was sentenced.

One of them came forward and placed a hand upon the man's chest.

"It is time to seal the Fifth Tail."The deep and emotionless baritone voice resonated throught the shadows. "Let us begin." Those who stood around the man; those who patiently awaited upon the tips of the statue's fingers, each raised a hand in a seal. Naruto was forced to look on in horror as each of the fingers lit, one by one, in a ghastly ghoulish green glow. The holograms stood around the man atop the statue's fingers and suddenly, the bit came unblocked from the statue's mouth.

_**"Fūinjutsu: Genryū Kyū Fūjin!" (Sealing Technique: Illusionary Dragon Nine Consuming Seals!)**_

Strange kanji appeared upon the fingernails of the statuette hands. Numbering nine altogether, a horde of dragon-like effigies poured from the statue's mouth, surrounding the captured host. Naruto watched them circle, circle, always circling, walling off any chance of escape he might've had. Suddenly with a terrible and terrifying intensity, they reared back. There was no rush and

Paper thin, the stranger's defenses shattered upon contact with the draconic spirits. To Naruto's dismay, he began to blubber and bawl all over again. Writhing, gagging and choking, a liquidic and pale substance drained out of his mouth and into the statue, leaking from the man's mouth, nose, and even his eyes. Naruto wanted to retch, but his stomach crumpled on itself and left his throat barren.

_"W-What the hell is this feeling...Oh no. NO! NOOO! I won't! I won't die like...I won't allow myself to...I can't...I...I c-caaaaaaaannnnnnrrraaagh!" _Naruto tried to sever his connection with the man. He tried to turn away from the flood of his memories, to ignore his eyes as the light flared into a supernova of blinding brilliance. He could not. He couldn't bring himsef to turn a blind eye to the atrocity, no matter how it might hurt him to not avert his eyes in those crucial last moments of life.

And then everything was gone and the horror was ended.

_'No.'_

Naruto stared ahead, counting the specks of light. No matter how many times he counted, there were only seven. Seven. Pain, the raw and terrifying agony of a death not his own but that of another, stung and stabbed at his eyes as he gazed into the void, reeling from that brief blaze of furious and wild distress.

_'No.'_

Panic traveled across the invisible wavelength that connected him to the remaining lights. He was sure that the remaining seven experienced similair feelings of terror and despair, but he would never know as he watched them wink out as well. One, by one, by one, they simply vanished, slipping through his fingertips with all he held dear. And then there was only one. A lonely lump of crimson light that had devoured all the others, and even as he observed it, that shape was swelling, changing, transforming into a creature so grotesque, so hideous...

_'NOOOO!'_

With every fiber of his being, Naruto pushed himself against the light. With a wordless and inhuman cry, the tendrils of awareness severed from his conciousness. Too much. It was too cruel, to give a man hope and then wrest it away, even if it had been unintended. But the damage was done. The seed he had planted, the seed that'd blossomed into a mighty oak, began do decay. Roots crumbled and fruit became rotten as bark turned to ash, leaving only a hopeless depravity in its wake.

"Calm down, Naruto."

A hand laid itself upon his shoulder. Something was pulling him aside, away. He felt twisted, and slowly a mountain came into focus- not the mountain, for the mountain itself remained indistinct, it seemed full of people intensely curious to greet him but he couldn't make them out. All that was truly in focus as the scene changed, focused, narrowed, was _himself._ Namikaze Naruto, fully grown and in the prime of adulthood _and _standing before behomoth come straight from his nightmares.

This Naruto had seven swords strapped to his back, one of which, was Kubikiri Houcho. He faced this huge and otherworldly creature, weapon in hand.

Naruto felt something hot and stinging lance through his chest and again the scene changed. He was standing below the beast now, looking on with horror and disgust as it descended to the earth to face him, to strike him down. It was massive, this creature, and blacker than hell itself. It loomed over him, ten tails of perverse and distorted chakra swaying behind its mighty frame and haunches.

Wait a free-frickin' minute.

There were only _nine _bijju!

How could this thing possibly have...

Hunched shoulders bent, stooped as it leaned further as its hulking frame would allow, and turned its eye upon him. Decaying jaws parted in a hideous roar, spraying a gust of phlegm and rechid wind into his face and the forest below. Naruto stood against this hurricane and was amazed that he hadn't been blown away. He felt a small part of him fall away and crumble into nothingness as he drew not a sword, but a staff -where the hell had that come from- and leveled it upon the creature.

"It's over, Jūbi." Naruto's mouth moved against his will and his body assumed a strange stance. "Today, I remove your taint from this world!" His body moved as though he were on the invisible strings of a pupetteer and Naruto saw within his peripheals the drawing of a slim looking katana from a sheathe he couldn't quite see. This monstrosity known now as the Ten Tailed Beast snarled in defiance and reached for him, no- it reached for the Rikudo Senin- and the sage raised his staff/sword and chanted something unintelligible, his words lost in the howling of the storm.

"This is a dream baka yarou." Naruto flushed as the Kyuubi mentally berated him. "What, did you really think this was happening in reality? What you saw before, the death of Five Tailed Beast, that was real enough, but this, THIS happened long, long ago, long before you or I ever existed."

"So then this is...

"Precisely."

Frigid with reality Naruto realized the truth of what he was witnessing. However, it did little to assauge his fear as the foul creature bellowed and lashed out. A massive hand shot toward him, filling all of his vision with an incredible speed. Yet even as the hand descended upon the sage, an incredible flare of the most intense light burst from the staff and struck the beast. Naruto would have smiled if his dream body had allowed it. Struck by the seal, the Jūbi gave a keening howl as its body violently turned inward and turned to chakra, that chakra being drawn into the body of the Six Path Sage and bound there for what would be the remainder of his long-lived life.

Impossibly, the dream changed yet again.

"If there is peace in this world...you'll be the one to find it, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto felt the pseudo-him/Six Path Sage smile, and the world inverted violently. Now it was Naruto staring out at the Rikudo Senin, and the Six Path Sage smiling back. He stood there standing placidly the midst of the chaos that the Ten Tailed Beast had wrought. He crooked a finger at Naruto, and the genin hadn't the strength to refuse. He hurried up the cliffside, heedless of how outlandishly dumb he looked when he scuffed a hand on a rock and a knee on some gravel.

Mild laughter greeted his arrival at the summit.

"I believe your generation has a saying." A small shiver fled his spine as he beheld the "God of all Shinobi" in all his magnificent splendor. "Slow and steady wins the race, was it?" Naruto couldn't bring himself to answer..._himself._ He was looking at himself. Granted, this was an older much, _much _wiser version of himself, but the resemblance could not be denied. Every aspect of him, from the Rinnegan in his eyes to the curtain of crimson shading that crooked smile within unbelievably long hair, right down to the whisker marks that rippled each cheek, everything screamed the truth.

This was Naruto.

"Wouldn't you agree, Naruto-kun?" The Rikudo Senin gesticulated grandly, and Naruto stared into a mirror as it appeared from nothingness. He froze. They looked almost exactly the same. But for this obvious difference in height ant attire, he'd look exactly like the Sage of the Six Paths. But that could only mean one thing. Scarce had he completed the thought than a hand settled upon his shoulder. Naruto whirled, and found a gaze brimming with all the affection of one generation giving to the next.

"You're...

Suffocating and intense, a strange sensation welled at his eyes and threatened to spill the tears down his cheeks. This was as close to a family gathering as he could possibly get, but only tears came when he tried to find the words to speak. The Six Path Sage must have noticed this, for he banished his weapons and smiled a fatherly smile. It was the kind of smile Naruto never wore because, well, he wasn't a father and quite frankly he wasn't sure he ever wanted to be one.

It was really strange to see the elder Naruto smiling as such.

"So, aiming for world peace, are you?" Violet rimmed eyes quirked into an amused chortle as he flushed. "Maybe you'll be the one to surpass me in the prophecy after all." Naruto was taken aback by such a thing, all his composure stripped away in an instant. _Him?_Surpass the Rikudo Sennin? The man who had sealed the aggregate of all Biju, the man who had created the nine tailed fox, Shukaku, Nibi, and Nanabi with all the other chakra beasts?

"Ch-Chotto! Wait a second!" If he'd held supreme confidence in himself before, then he certainly wasn't showing any of it now. "How can you just go around saying stuff like that!" Naurto shook over his entire body and cursed himself for the carlessness of such an inquiry. "Y-You're kidding, right? How am I supposed to do something even you couldn't? You're the absolute best of the best to ever exist!" Ah crap, now he was crying because he'd too much time to think this through and in that time he'd realized peace was not only immensely difficult to achieve, but it was un-freaking-believably hard! Everyone could die, just like that and he'd be powerless to do anything about it!

"I almost lost everyone already!" Naruto scrubbed at his face furiously. "Sasuke...Hinata...Gaara... If I screw up...then...then..._they'll die!"_Naruto refused to do it, he refused to shed a tear because only the weakest of the weak allowed themselves to weep. "I can already feel this chakra...doing things to me! I'm not going to _be me _when I wake up! What don't you understand about that!" He kept his head downturned as he awaited a rebuttal, but the words just wouldn't stop.

"I...I can't help it! I care about them too much to do something like this. If I wake up, I'll be...someone else! _I'll ruin everything!" _But if he'd been expecting just that, a rebuke from his ancestor, then he was sorely dissapointed. A sound jingling against one another, the rings on his sleeves clinked together as the legendary founder of ninjutsu turned himself toward the drop that awaited them. Naruto followed his ancestor's gaze, and tried to clamp down on the tears before they could slip out and wash him away in a flood of misery.

"What do you think peace is?" Rikudo Sennin asked. "Naruto-kun?"

_"Nani?" _Naruto scrubbed at an eye with the back of a hand. The Sage waited patiently, gazing upon the charred landscape while he waited for his charge to get his bearings. And as always, Namikaze Naruto was quick to bounce back when given the means and a method by which to do so. Eventually he dried his tears. Two Rinnegan wielders, one living and another dead, a ghost from the past and a boy from the present, joined in together in silent contemplation as the dark clouds overhead began to break into afternoon sky.

"I...don't have an answer to that-

**_WHAM!_**

_"Rubbish."_The Six Path Sage ammended Naruto's whine with a stern _swat _to the head with his staff. "You know the answer as well as I and you're running from it. Fleeing, as my children did before you." He glowered for a moment longer before straightening out of the battle ready crouch he'd adopted. It was surprising revelation for the redhead. Naruto had tensed himself into a battle readiness, as though those rippling eyes and their spectre were a threat. Naruo felt disgust roiling up within his soul, threatening to strangle all his morals and wash his world away in a flood of self-loathing.

"Peace can be many things. "The sage murmurred. "Wouldn't you agree, given what you've seen?"

Naruto thought about that.

Gaara desperately wanted a family, to be acknowledged in his existence. Yugito wanted a mate that loved her as deeply as she loved him. Fu, the hardened teenager that had at first seemed to brutal, so blackened and bloodthirsty that Naruto had been convinced she was beyong saving, wanted nothing more than to be held, embraced, smiled upon, and received the love she had never ever known in the days of her childhood.

Sasuke wanted companions.

Hinata wanted unity.

Naruto wanted peace.

"Maybe that's true," Naruto mumbled as the first shaft of sunlight fell upon them. "But I don't have an answer yet." At this, the Rikudo Sennin arched an eyebrow. Almost immediately thereafter, Naruto whined as a hand tousled that curtain of crimson that was his hair. Still, he made no effort or complaint toward his great (man many times great) grandfather. It was a kind and gentle moment, caught somewhere in a time that was neither here nor there, and it could not last.

"After that meaningful speech, too." The sage feigned a mournful expression. "I had such high hopes for you, Naruto-kun. Actually," Naruto twisted to look up at the sage again, confusion evident in his expression. "It's rather easy to create peace. Maintaing proper peace, sustaining that harmony and serenity even after your death, that's where things become...troublesome." Naruto, having opened his mouth to protest, snapped it shut with an audible pop and clamped down on the laughter.

"Hehehe...You remind me of Shikamaru."

"Pardon?"

"He thinks EVERYTHING is troublesome." Naruto was snickering softly, the thought never even occuring to him that the Sage hadn't the foggiest idea to who Shikamaru Nara was. "He's a lazy bum and mendokusē is practically his catchphrase when he isn't slacking off or napping somehwere." Naruto finsihed his sentence with a restrained snicker. Surely it must've been contagious, because Sennin's laughter answered his own.

"Ah." Another laugh, and another gentle mussing of the hair. "Maybe I'll understand that someday."

"That's just it." Naruto mumbled, unaware of that brief brief flicker of surprise in those eyes. "What you said earlier, that is. I want them to understand." He fidgeted as Rinnegan locked upon him, those eyes so much wiser and infinitely more knowledgeable than his own. "Maybe if everyone understood one another we wouldn't have to live like this. If they really understood each other, if they saw this world through my eyes, if they could see the pain they needlessly inflict upon others, maybe then there wouldn't be anymore of all...

Naruto gestured wildly, at a loss for words.

"Just how do you intend to make your enemies understand you, let alone one another, Naruto-kun?"

"I won't make them do anything!" Naruto's protest was unusually fierce. "I'll just...well...I'll try to see if I can understand them first! And if that doesn't work then I'll explain myself; I'll let them come to their own conclusions, and if their the wrong ones I'll still try to understand them! And if they don't want peace at all then I'll stop them from creating anymore pain in this world than we already have! But I won't... I will not force anyone to follow my dream against their will! I can't create peace if I force someone to do something that they hate! That's not peace! Not at all! That's...That's..."

"Well said." Naruto blinked as his ancestor stooped down to his level. "I think you've found your answer, Naruto-kun." Suddenly, Naruto realized that he could see through is ancestor. "Your eyes have become stronger for it, too."

"Eh?" Naruto blinked owlishly. "I don't understand." I thought you-

"Mattaku." The Rikudo Sennin sighed fastidously. "This is really irresponsible of me, "The God of Shinobi" to entrust my task to you. But with those eyes of yours, I feel as though I can finally move on and leave this world in your capable hands." Naruto was still shaking his head when the Six Path Sage removed his necklace. "Here. I bestow this upon you. The greatest of my treasures, the one that I have always kept at my side, even in death. It belongs to you now, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto choked aloud, a small and wordless sound of disbelief falling from his lips. No sooner had the jade jewels fallen around his neck than a stange and golden glow emanated from them. Wreathing across his flesh and wrapping him in a sheet of golden flame, the tongues of heat and fire even extended to his attire and damaged chakra coils. Repairing the damage the Kyuubi's chakra had dealt to his tenketsu points and unblocking the malformed coils to better synchronize with his new body.

"S-Sugoi...

No, that wasn't it at all. There was chakra. An insane amount of chakra surged out of Naruto, mixing with the Kyuubi's and filtering into the crimson. Strange. There wasn't any pain. Kyuubi's chakra had burned when he'd used it that first time on the bridge. Not anymore. Though the crimson energies left his features feral, instead of clawing at his skin and boiling into his blood, he welcomed them and turned the powers inward and away from his wild and chaotic desires; diverting them, channeling the power into his arms and legs, not a wildly indiscriminate burst of rage.

It felt like a second skin. Rippling over his body in a protective sheathe born entirely of crimson, a pale crimson. Not the furious dark stain that it had been moments before. Naruto blinked and the glow faded, taking with it his jinchuuriki cloak. Awed, Naruto jerked his gaze upward to thank the Rikudo Sennin. He couldn't believe his eyes. The Six Path Sage was fading. The dream was fading, and with it went the Rikudo Sennin, as he too, was a part of this strange dream-vision.

"Hmm." The sage was staring mutely at a transparent hand. "Seems my time is up."

"Rikudo Sennin...

"Arashi."

"Eh?"

"Don't _eeeeh _me, gaki." The sage smiled, and Naruto saw every bit of himself in that devil-may-care grin. "That's my name. If you keep calling me Rikudo Sennin-sama all the time then I'll feel even older than I already am!" They laughed, the both of them, but it was a sad and bitter chuckle for each. **One of farewell and sadness.**

The Six Path Sage removed the necklace from his neck and offered it to his ancestor. Naruto accepted the gift with fumbling hands, silently marvelling at it.

"I suppose I'll use my final moments to explain just what that is, then. It is Yasakani no Magatama (Necklace of jewels). This is the Spirit Item. You're the only one who can use it, Naruto-kun. I can't tell you what kind of power it holds. Only you can unlock it now. I've taken the liberty of syncrhonizing your chakra with the Kyuubi's, too. It should be easier for you to draw upon his chakra now." That gaze hardened. "But beware. The damage to your seal is inevitable. The more you rely on his chakra, the further it will deteriorate. Once it reaches a certain point you'll have to do something about it-

"I'll just kick his ass then," Naruto surprised the sage by jerking a hand forward, thumb upright from a fist. "Dattebayo!"

"Kick his ass then, huh?" The Six Path Sage, otherwise known as Arashi, chuckled morosely."I'll leave you to it then, oh great-great-great-great-**GREAT** grandsone of mine." Naruto blinked as his great great however many times great ancestor extended a hand, clenched into a fist. The gesture was as unmistakeable as it was memorable. Naruto grinned and bumped fists with the ghost, and was not at all surprise when he managed to connect.

"Use it well."

Naruto_** screamed...**_

* * *

...and as he screamed, he jerked upright.

He felt pain; because he was still alive. Still whole. Still here. Relief flooded Naruto as he flopped back down, his head spinning. His body screaming. He welcomed the pain with open arms and waited for it to subside as the memories crashed down around his ears. Orochimaru. The mark on his neck. Slimy bastard.

**"Looks like you survived."** Kyuubi grunted. **"This time."**

_'Good to see you, too, bastard.'_ Naruto suppressed a grimace as his world finally returned. Wincing at the effort it took, he propped himself up on his elbows, hoping, that his weakened limbs would last. Thankfully, they did. The world came back to him in a rush of epileptic agony; every inch of him ached, some in places he didn't even know he had. He saw the firelight saw the shadows lurking beyond, saw the figures gathered outside and nearly fell over on his ass. It hurt just to have his eyes open and oh kami his neck was killing him-

_"You son of a bitch!"_

His head whipped around at the voice. Snapped _backward_ as a hand cracked across his face. Reeling from the force of the blow, the last Namikze opened his mouth to protest...

...and found his eyes locked with that of the last Uchiha.

"What the hell, Sasuke?!"

"You son of a bitch!" Black eyes narrowed wrathfully, tearfully "Don't you ever fucking do that to me again!"

_"Eh?"_

Tears flowed unheeded down the Uchiha's face.

Naruto mouth fell openina small round O. Sasuke never cried. Ever. To see his supposed-teammate shed tears nowhere and now, for his sake, was a feat in-and-of itself. And was it just him...or did Sasuke's voice seem a tiny bit more _pitched_ than before? Were was the usual timbre of his words? Strange...

"Do you have any idea how long you were out?"

The redhead blinked.

"A few hours, right?"

"More like a few days!"

_"What?!" _He pushed himself upright, alarming the Uchiha with his sudden proximity. "You mean-

Naruto never did get to finish that sentence as the the vines flung themselves open. A blur of caramel brown registered in his peripheals. A flicker of lime green and eyes of golden amber. This time, Naruto really did fall over. Crying out in surprise and pain, as Fu's flung herself around his neck and chest, the weight of her lithe body driving him back to the floor. Her eyes also gleamed hot with tears, though whether sorrowed or joyous he knew not. Her lips tasted of them too; salty and tangy, brimming with such ardor he was utterly taken aback by relief and sorrow. Full of joy.

"Ah...Fu...

"Bastard." She hissed between kisses breasts mashing up against his chest, supple form grinding into his groin. "You stupid, _fucking _bastard." Whiskered cheeks burned beneath her incessant affection, burnished by the pale light of the torches."Don't you _ever _fucking blank out on me like that you hear?" Getting cussed out never felt so damned good. "Now, you listen to me, and listen damn good." Her breath was warm on his ear, and hot on his face. "I'm the only one who's allowed to kill you. Got that?

He managed a nod, just as a strangled yelp reached his ear. He hazarded a glance toward the sound.

_Froze._

Hinata was staring at them with wide, overlarge eyes. Naruto couldn't help but gulp. Was that...anger lurking in those pale orbs? He'd the strongest suspicion that it was. Just as he'd never seen Sasuke cry, so too, had he never witnessed the true depth of the Hyuuga's anger. Until now. Wait. She wasn't actuallly...jealous was she?

"Yo." The blond raised a hand weakly, hoping against hope that her stare wouldn't remain thus. "Hinata-chan."

"Na-Naruto-kun?" At his words, she became utterly obvious of the taki-kunoichi sitting in his lap.

"Yeah?"

"Y-You're alright." The Hyuuga sputtered, relief welling up in her eyes. "You're...really...actually...

"Please don't cry, Hinata-chan!" Naruto pleaded. He'd seen more than his fair share of tears already. He was sick of everyone shedding tears over him. He just wanted everything to return to the way it was, and get this damned exam over with. No such luck. Seconds later, he found the Hyuuga nestled in his lap alongside Fu each kunoichi glaring bloody red daggers at one another, sparks flying between her eyes. Sasuke bristled, eyes narrowing to mere pinpricks of bloody obsidian as his own refusal to admit his secret still hounded him.

_Damnit..._

Everyone else just _gawped._

"Well now," Yugito blinked as she pulled the curtain aside, leaving her tale unfinished. "I didn't think he'd wake up this soon." Samui edged in beside her, perplexion flickering throughout her face. Why did the boy have two girls in his lap? What had she missed? And why, oh why, did she find herself wanting to join them? Before she could further deliberate this strange sensation, another redhead barged into the room. Killer intent was suddenly everywhere, welling up from the four corners of the naturally erected shelter, filling its occupants with dread.

"Namikaze...

Sabaku no Gaara had deliberately kept himself distant from the other jinchuuriki. Avoided them, ignored the cries of his demon that demanded their slaughter. Until now. Now that the Namikaze had returned from what should very well have been his end, it was time to fufill the promise. And he wasn't about to allow anyone to impede his progress. Sand swirled out of the gourd at his back, and surrounded him, forcing those present to acknowledge his prescence of be caught up in the foul smelling granules of bloody grit.

He cared not for the pair of kunoichi in the boy's lap, nor the Uchiha nor the other genin in the room. He cared only for the one who had made the promise. The promise to fight. His sand lashed out at the others, eager for action, crushing them to the sides of the bough, forcing them out of the fight and away from his target. His prey.

"Gaara." The former blond blinked, as though just now recognizing him. "Now isn't the time-

"Namikaze." The redhead growled. "You promised me a fight if I offered you my assistance. I've fufilled my end of the bargain." Green eyes glinting with maddened blood lust, his unfolded his arms where they trembled at his sides in eerie anticipation. Now! The promised time was now! His demon was scraping at the door to his mind in earnest now, demanding action, demanding battle, _demanding..._

**_Blood._**

"Now...

Even as Naruto moved to rise, so too, did the sand move to greet him.

_...FIGHT ME!"_

**_A/N: IT LIIIIIIVES! Path of Peace Lives! And so does Naruto! But is the cursed seal gone? Or has its chakra merely been subsumed into his body? The thought of Naruto with another source of power in additionto the one he already has *shudder* that can't possibly bode well for the world. And, we see why Gaara agreed to work with Naruto. Bloodthirsty bastard just wanted a fight. And it seems he's about to get one. But enough about him! Isn't Fu just adorable? It seems Naruto toned down her violent tendencies quite a bit...except toward him. Wonder how the other girls are going to take this, we all know how Samui's reactiong, but what of Yugito? Things get heated next chapter, so..._**

**_...REVIEW, would you kindly?_**

**_R&R! =D_**


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